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CAUPO*NIA 
SAN  DIEGO 


2ol3l 


MEMORIAL 


To 


Charles  Henry  Appleton  Dall 


"  My  work  holds  me  by  its  beauty  " 

Harriet  Ryan 


Beacon  Press      /*T)\      Thomas  Todd 
Boston      Yviw       Printer 


THE  SERVICE  OF  BEAUTY. 


Largess  from  sevenfold  heavens,  I  pray,  descend 
On  all  who  toil  for  Beauty  !     Never  feet 
Grow  weary  that  have  done  her  bidding  sweet 
About  the  careless  world.     For  she  is  friend 
And  darling  of  the  universe ;  and  day  by  day 
She  conies  and  goes,  but  never  dies, 
So  precious  is  she  in  the  eternal  eyes. 

Oh,  dost  thou  scorn  her,  seeing  what  fine  way 
She  doth  avenge  ?     For  heaven  because  of  her 
Shall  one  day  find  thee  fitter.     How  old  hours 
Of  star-wrapt  night  about  thy  heart  had  curled, 
And  thou  hadst  felt  the  morning's  golden  stir, 
And  the  appealing  loveliness  of  flowers, — 
Yea,  all  the  saving  beauty  of  the  world  ! 

—  Anne  Whitney. 


Our  India  Mission 


and 


Our   First  Missionary 

Rev.  Charles  H.  A.  Dall 


31  Memorial  paper  bp  Ijis  £)totmtp  Sc&ool  Classmate 
Rev.  John  Healey  Hey  wood 


OUR    INDIA   MISSION   AND    OUR   FIRST 
MISSIONARY. 


Ax  the  meeting  of  the  Unitarian  Ministers'  Monday  Club, 
held  October  4,  1886,  the  "India  Mission"  was  the  subject  con- 
sidered. After  earnest  discussion,  a  resolution  was  adopted  by 
the  brethren  present,  expressive  of  their  deep  interest  in  the 
mission,  of  their  hearty  appreciation  of  the  work  done,  and  of 
their  gratification  at  the  action  of  the  American  Unitarian  Asso- 
ciation at  its  late  annual  meeting.  They  also  requested  that  the 
following  Memorial  Paper,  an  abstract  of  which  was  read  at  the 
opening  of  the  discussion,  be  printed. 

The  action  of  the  Association  referred  to  was  the  unanimous 
adoption,  May  25,  1886,  of  the  following  resolution,  moved  by 
Rev.  John  H.  Heywood  and  seconded  by  Rev.  James  Freeman 
Clarke,  D.D.  :  — 

The  members  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association  assembled  at  its 
annual  meeting,  having  listened  with  deep  interest  to  the  Secretary's  words 
relating  to  the  India  Mission,  and  appreciating  the  admirable  work  done  by 
Rev.  C.  H.  A.  Ball  during  the  past  thirty-one  years,  and  by  his  able  and 
devoted  coadjutors,  Mr.  Dwarkanath  Singha  and  Mrs.  Tomkins,  who  have 
labored  with  him  unweariedly  —  the  former  for  twenty-five  and  the  latter  for 
twenty  years  —  would  send  their  affectionate  greetings  and  their  hearty  "  God- 
speed" to  these  consecrated  representatives  of  America,  England,  and  India, 
and  would  assure  them  that  their  disinterested  and  Christ-like  labors  for 
India,  and  especially  for  its  youth,  are  gratefully  acknowledged  by  the  Associa- 
tion, which  will  gladly  do  all  in  its  power  to  perpetuate  the  mission  and  enlarge 
the  sphere  and  measure  of  its  beneficent  activity. 


REV.  C  H.  A.  DALL.* 


IN  front  of  me  as  I  write  this  Memorial  Paper,  are  two 
pictures  of  our  friend  and  brother.  The  one,  copied  from 
a  daguerreotype  taken  in  1844,  represents  him  in  the  buoy- 
ancy and  beauty  of  early  manhood.  The  other  brings 
before  us  the  earnest,  intense  face  of  the  venerable,  white- 
bearded  man  of  seventy,  who  .for  thirty  years  had  given,  in 
India's  tropical  climate,  time,  thought,  money,  all  that  he 
was,  all  that  he  had,  in  unreserved  consecration  to  his 
chosen  work. 

Our  friend  —  Charles  Henry  Appleton  Ball,  his  full 
name  —  was  born  in  Baltimore,  February  12,  1816.  His 
parents  were  James  Dall,  of  Boston,  and  Henrietta  Austin 
Ball,  of  New  Haven,  his  mother  being  a  sister  of  Mrs. 
Holley,  wife  of  Rev.  Br.  Horace  Holley,  predecessor  of 
Rev.  John  Pierpont  in  the  pastorship  of  the  Boston  Hollis 
Street  Church. 

In  the  seventh  year  of  his  age  our  brother  was  sent  for 
educational  purposes  to  Boston,  and  was  welcomed  to  the 
house  in  which  his  father  had  been  born,  and  was  adopted 
by  his  bachelor  uncle  and  maiden  aunt,  William  and  Sarah 
Ball.  He  entered  the  Franklin  School,  of  which  W.  S. 
Adams  was  then  principal,  September,  1824.  At  the  end 
of  three  years  he  received  a  "  Franklin  Medal,"  being  fully 
prepared  for  admission  either  to  the  English  High  School 
or  the  Latin  School. 

Prevented,  by  temporary  indecision  on  the  part  of  his 

*  For  some  of  the  facts  and  dates  in  the  sketch  here  made  of  Mr.  Ball's  life  and  work,  I 
am  indebted  to  an  interesting  and  characteristic  autobiographic  paper  in  the  College  Class  Hook 
of  1837,  which  book  was  kindly  opened  to  me  by  the  Class  Secretary,  Henry  Williams,  Esq.,  the 
loved  and  honored  teacher.  For  many  other  facts,  my  grateful  acknowledgments  are  due  to  Mrs. 
Dall,  who,  though  prevented  by  imperative  duties  and  insuperable  obstacles  from  being  with  her 
husband  in  India,  cooperated  earnestly  with  him,  working  constantly  and  efficiently  in  the  promo- 
tion of  his  plans,  and  rendering  him  aid  indispensable  for  their  fulfilment.  J.  H.  H. 


guardians  as  to  his  life-course,  from  offering  himself  in 
season  for  admission  to  the  Latin  School,  he  passed  an 
additional  year  in  the  Franklin  School.  Being  graduated 
there  anew,  and  as  first  scholar  in  every  department,  he 
had  for  the  second  time  the  honor,  desired  and  dreaded  by 
pupils,  of  dining  with  the  other  medal  scholars  at  Faneuil 
Hall,  in  company  with  the  city  fathers.  He  entered  the 
Latin  School  in  September,  1828,  and  was  graduated  as 
highest  scholar  and  assigned  the  "Valedictory"  in  August, 

1833- 

In  a  letter  recently  received  from  C.  K.  Dillaway,  Esq., 
that  accomplished  educator,  held  in  honor  and  reverence  by 
all  who  know  him,  says  :  "  It  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  think 
or  write  of  Charles  Dall.  For  many  years  he  was  one  of 
my  scholars  at  the  Boston  Latin  School.  This  gave  me 
abundant  opportunities  to  appreciate  the  qualities  of  his 
mind  and  heart.  He  soon  became  distinguished  as  one  of 
the  best  scholars  in  his  class.  In  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathe- 
matics, he  had  no  superior."  After  speaking  beautifully  of 
Mr.  Ball's  Christian  character  and  self-denying  spirit,  Mr. 
Dillaway  closes  his  letter  with  expressing  his  gladness  that 
there  is  to  be  a  written  memorial  of  the  faithful  man  and 
missionary.  "  He  deserves  it,"  is  his  emphatic  utterance. 

Letters  from  fellow-students  in  the  Latin  School  speak 
in  similar  terms.  One  of  them,  himself  a  very  fine  scholar, 
says  :  "  He  was  one  of  the  most  thoroughly  conscientious 
boys  in  the  performance  of  all  school  tasks  and  in  the  ob- 
servance of  all  school  rules  that  I  ever  knew.  .  .  .  There 
was  never,  in  any  school  work  that  he  did,  the  least 
approach  to  a  careless  and  slipshod  manner ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  he  put  into  his  work  his  best  attention,  fidelity, 
and  precision."  This  friend  of  his  early  days  speaks  of 
Mr.  Dall  as  being  graceful,  fluent,  and  eloquent  in  his 
declamations,  attractive  in  personal  appearance,  and  with 
"an  abundance  of  kindness  and  good-will  for  all  his  asso- 
ciates." 


At  the  end  of  his  third  year  in  the  Latin  School,  the 
young  student  went  to  Baltimore  to  spend  the  vacation, 
his  first  visit  in  ten  years  to  his  parental  home. 

Mr.  Ball's  four  years  of  college  life  in  Cambridge  were 
marked  by  the  same  traits  of  diligence,  conscientiousness, 
and  extreme  fidelity  that  characterized  his  Franklin  School 
and  his  Latin  School  life.  They  were  years  of  deep  inter- 
est to  him,  of  which  in  the  Class  Book  autobiographic 
sketch  he  speaks  with  warm  gratitude. 

They  were  not,  however,  years  of  unmingled  happiness. 
He  passed  through  some  very  trying  experiences.  These 
were  occasioned  in  part  by  certain  peculiarities  of  manner 
and  temperament,  which  caused  him  to  be  misunderstood 
by  many  of  his  classmates,  and  in  part  by  his  taking  posi- 
tions, in  very  exciting,  quite  tempestuous  periods,  different 
from  those  taken  by  the  great  majority,  and  which  led  to 
exhibitions  on  their  part  not  only  of  disagreement,  but  also 
of  alienation.  To  him,  these  expressions  were  painful  in 
the  extreme ;  for,  by  nature,  he  was  very  sensitive,  and  had 
an  almost  morbid  desire  for  approbation.  Such,  however, 
of  his  fellow-students  as  knew  him  intimately,  and,  because 
of  that  intimate  knowledge,  discerned  the  real  man  under 
whatever  peculiarities  of  manner  and  temperament,  saw  and 
felt  that  throughout  his  course  he  had  aimed  to  be  loyal 
to  conscience  and  God,  and  that  he  had  shown,  time  and 
again,  a  true  moral  courage  rare  in  itself,  and  which  his 
natural  craving  for  the  good-will  of  associates  and  his  con- 
stitutional shrinking  from  censure  made  all  the  more  note- 
worthy. 

None  of  his  surviving  classmates  could  now  read,  with 
the  light  of  his  heroic  life  resting  on  it,  that  remarkable 
autobiographic  record,  so  full  and  so  frank  in  its  unveiling 
of  thought,  purpose,  motive,  of  the  whole  inner  life,  indeed, 
without  recognizing  in  the  writer,  as  his  dear  friend  and 
chum  —  the  late  Dr.  John  Bacon,  whose  death  science  so 
sincerely  mourned  —  always  recognized,  the  pure,  morally 


8 

strong  man,  one  of   Wordsworth's  men  of  "duty,"  whose 
constant  prayer  was 

"  Give  unto  me,  made  lowly  wise, 
The  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  ; 
The  confidence  of  reason  give  ; 
And,  in  the  light  of  truth,  thy  bondman  let  me  live." 

Immediately  after  his  college  graduation  in  1837,  Mr. 
Ball  was  admitted  into  the  Cambridge  Divinity  School, 
whence  he  was  graduated  in  1840.  His  instructors  and 
his  classmates  in  the  school  —  Sylvester  Judd,  author  of 
"Margaret,"  being  one  of  the  class  —  knew  him  to  be  a 
man  of  sincere  and  ardent  piety,  and  a  most  diligent,  inde- 
fatigable student.  He  was  all  the  while  a  very  faithful  and 
successful  Sunday  school  worker,  having  during  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Divinity  School,  and  I  think  also  while  in 
college,  superintendence  of  the  school  connected  with  the 
Hollis  Street  Church. 

Very  soon  after  graduation  he  entered  upon  his  active 
work.  The  sphere  of  that  work  and  its  character  and 
quality  are  shown  in  the  following  letter  from  one  whose 
words  are  always  words  of  authority  —  Rev.  Dr.  Eliot,  of 
St.  Louis  :  — 

ST.  Louis,  September  15,  1886. 

Dear  Mrs.  Dall : —  I  find,  from  very  brief  notes  in  church  records 
here,  that  early  in  the  autumn  of  1840  (I  think  September;  Charles 
H.  A.  Dall,  just  graduated  from  the  Divinity  College  of  Harvard 
University,  came  to  St.  Louis,  by  my  invitation,  to  undertake  the 
duties  of  minister-at-large,  and  labored  in  that  sphere  of  usefulness 
more  than  a  year.  He  was  ordained  evangelist  November  28.  1841. 

Through  the  year,  he  conducted  a  free  day  school  for  children  of 
the  poor,  both  boys  and  girls,  at  which  the  average  attendance  was 
fifty.  It  was  the  first  free  school  ever  established  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. A  sewing-school,  by  assistance  of  ladies  of  the  church,  was 
kept  every  afternoon  for  girls. 

His  labors  were  faithful  and  very  useful,  not  only  in  the  above- 
named  ways,  but  through  visiting  the  poor  at  their  homes,  supplying 
their  wants,  providing  work  for  them,  etc.,  so  that  he  greatly  endeared 
himself  both  to  children  and  parents. 


He  was  compelled  by  state  of  his  health  to  leave  St.  Louis  Decem- 
ber, 1841,  expecting  to  return,  which  his  continued  indisposition 
prevented. 

His  ordination  took  place  in  the  Unitarian  Church,  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  Congregational  usages  —  right  hand  of  fellowship  by  Rev. 
George  Moore,  sermon  and  prayer  of  ordination  by  Rev.  W.  G.  Eliot. 

I  can  only  add  that  Mr.  D all's  fourteen  months   of   self-denying 
labor  in  St.  Louis  left  a  record  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  him  far 
more  sacred  and  eloquent  than  any  words  could  express. 
Very  truly  yours, 

W.  G.  ELIOT. 

Beautiful,  heart-prompted  tribute,  this.  And  how  sug- 
gestive and  impressive  the  brief  statement  !  To  any  think- 
ing mind,  what  significance  there  is  in  the  fact  that  the 
first  free  school  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  established 
under  the  auspices  of  that  noble  St.  Louis  Church  of  the 
Messiah,  and  that  its  first  leader  and  teacher  was  he  who, 
in  after  years,  was  to  render  inestimable  educational  service 
to  the  children  of  the  far  East !  It  unites  the  Hoogly  and 
Ganges  with  the  Mississippi  by  fine  mental  and  spiritual 
ties.  It  gives,  too,  the  key  to  the  life-work  of  our  brother, 
who  was  at  its  end  in  India,  as  he  was  at  its  beginning  in 
Missouri,  truly  "minister-at-large  "  and  educator. 

The  spirit  of  consecrated  and  consecrating  enthusiasm 
in  which  Mr.  Dall  entered  upon  his  work  revealed  itself  not 
only  in  our  intimacy  at  the  Divinity  School,  but  in  the 
opening  of  his  mind  and  heart  in  a  brief  visit  made  to  me 
in  Louisville,  in  1840,  when  he  was  on  his  way  to  St.  Louis. 
And  a  few  weeks  later  I  was  favored  by  a  visit  from 
another  brother,  and  one  very  dear,  Rev.  George  Moore,  a 
worthy  son  of  Concord,  Mass.,  then  going  to  Quincy,  111., 
and  from  whom,  as  we  have  just  seen,  Mr.  Dall  a  year 
afterwards  received  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  From  no 
more  conscientious  or  Christ-like  man,  no  truer  a  mission- 
ary-minister, could  he  have  received  it. 

Soon  after  his  ordination,  Mr.  Dall  had  a  serious  illness, 
attended  by  a  painful  cough.  Hoping  that  in  a  milder 


10 


climate  he  might  regain  health  and  strength,  he  went  to 
Mobile,  Ala.  This  was  in  December,  1841.  He  preached 
a  few  times,  but  was  not  able  in  his  weak  state  to  continue 
the  service,  and  early  in  1842  he  took  passage  in  a  sailing 
vessel  for  Europe.  The  voyage  was  quite  exhausting. 
"  But  on  landing  at  Liverpool,  he  rallied,  remained  abroad 
some  months,  and  became  the  valued  friend  of  persons  like 
Joanna  Baillie,  Elizabeth  Fry  and  her  family,  James  Mar- 
tineau,  the  Estlins,  Mrs.  Steele,  and  others." 

In  the  latter  part  of  1842  he  returned  to  America,  and 
went  at  once  to  his  native  city  of  Baltimore,  and  there, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Unitarian  church,  the  scholarly 
and  devoted  Dr.  Burnap  being  then  its  pastor,  began  a 
work  similar  in  purpose  and  spirit  to  the  St.  Louis  work. 

Into  this  "Tuckerman  Mission"  he  threw  his  whole 
soul,  preaching  in  the  open  air,  visiting  prisons,  and  read- 
ing instructive  and  interesting  selections  from  books  and 
newspapers  to  the  prisoners,  gathering  uncared-for  children 
into  schools,  and  showing  rare  power  as  an  instructor.  He 
had  a  remarkable  facility  in  awakening  interest  in  pupils, 
and  in  making  matters  clear  to  their  minds,  anticipating  in 
many  ways  the  "  object-lesson "  methods,  now  recognized 
as  the  true  nature  system,  and  manifesting  the  spirit  of 
sympathy  with  childhood  which  gives  such  attractiveness 
and  power  to  the  modern  "  kindergarten." 

He  was  thoroughly  absorbed  in  his  mission  work.  So 
absorbed,  indeed,  was  he,  and  so  intense  was  his  feeling  for 
the  poor,  so  keen  his  sense  of  their  need,  that  the  bright 
and  witty  Madame  Bonaparte,  who  boarded  at  the  same 
house  with  him,  is  reported  to  have  said,  laughingly,  one 
day,  "  The  next  thing  we  know,  Mr.  Dall  will  be  carrying 
off  our  Christmas  goose,  because  'there  is  greater  need.'' 

It  is  illustrative  of  the  humane  spirit  and  its  practical 
direction  in  our  brother  and  in  her  whom  he  had  chosen  for 
his  life  companion  that  the  two  made  a  census,  the  first 
ever  made,  of  the  colored  children  in  Washington,  for  the 
purpose  of  gathering  them  into  a  school  on  Capitol  Hill. 


II 


Mr.  Ball's  marriage  was  in  September,  1844;  and  he 
and  his  wife  put  all  their  powers  into  the  Baltimore  mission, 
laboring  ceaselessly  until  his  health  broke  down  through  a 
painful  internal  disease,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  never 
fully  recovered.  For  six  weeks  during  his  illness,  Mrs. 
Dall,  while  taking  sole  care  of  him  by  night,  carried  on  his 
day  and  evening  schools  and  the  Sunday  services ;  and  then 
when  experience  confirmed  medical  advice  in  forbidding  him 
to  remain  in  Baltimore,  and  after  she  had  raised,  through  a 
floral  fair,  eight  hundred  dollars  for  continuing  the  mission 
dear  to  them  both,  they  reluctantly  bade  farewell  to  the 
beautiful,  hospitable  city,  and  came  to  Boston.  Here, 
August  21,  1845,  was  born  his  first  child,  William  Healey 
Dall,  the  distinguished  scientist. 

After  a  few  months  of  rest,  with  health  somewhat  re- 
stored, Mr.  Dall  went,  early  in  1846,  to  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
where  he  conducted  a  "ministry  to  the  poor,"  which  a 
large-hearted  gentleman  desired  him  to  undertake.  In  this 
work  he  labored  in  the  same  spirit  and  with  the  same 
felicity  in  teaching  that  had  characterized  his  labors  in 
St.  Louis  and  Baltimore. 

Our  beloved  friend,  Rev.  Dr.  Peabody,  then  minister  of 
the  Unitarian  church  in  Portsmouth,  who  welcomed  the 
missionary  to  heart  and  home,  speaks  warmly  of  his  self- 
denying  labors  and  philanthropic  enthusiasm,  and  of  his 
deep  sympathy  with  children  and  rare  capacity  of  awaken- 
ing their  interest  and  winning  their  affection. 

Circumstances  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  generous 
benefactor  to  continue  the  mission  beyond  the  year.  After 
passing  a  short  time  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  Mr.  Dall  accepted 
a  call  to  the  pastorship  of  the  Unitarian  society  in  Need- 
ham,  Mass.,  was  installed  February  7,  1847,  and  remained 
until  December,  1849.  Here  he  labored  indefatigably  and 
had  a  very  happy  life,  until  disease,  working  insidiously, 
affecting  his  memory  temporarily  and  causing  great  physi- 
cal weakness,  compelled  him  to  resign  his  position. 


12 


For  eighteen  months  he  had  been  in  very  feeble  condi- 
tion ;  but,  feeling  somewhat  stronger,  he  went  to  Toronto 
in  the  winter  of  1849-50,  preached  there  to  the  acceptance 
of  the  congregation,  was  invited  to  become  their  pastor, 
and  in  May,  1850,  he  took  his  family  to  the  pleasant  Cana- 
dian city. 

Four  happy  years  he  passed  there  —  years  of  ceaseless 
activity.  His  two  Sunday  services  were  largely  attended  ; 
his  house  was  open  every  Sunday  evening  for  hospitable 
welcome  to  any  who  desired  friendship  and  sought  inter- 
change of  thought  on  religious  topics  and  other  living 
themes ;  a  teachers'  meeting  was  held  every  Wednesday 
evening ;  Mrs.  Ball's  classes  were  eagerly  sought  by  inquir- 
ing minds ;  and  all  promised  well,  when  a  low  brain-fever 
was  developed,  and  for  weeks  he  lingered,  apparently  just 
on  the  verge  of  the  grave.  It  was  evident  that  many 
months  must  pass  before  he  could  do  effective  work,  and 
his  resignation  was  sent  in. 

In  the  autumn  of  1854,  a  small  house  was  taken  in 
West  Newton,  Mass.  ;  and  Mr.  Dall  preached  occasionally 
here  and  there,  though  he  continued  very  feeble. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Rev.  Charles  T.  Brooks,  our 
Newport  poet-preacher,  returned  from  his  visit  to  India, 
reaching  Boston  August  27,  1854.  He  came  with  mind 
and  heart  all  alive  to  the  significance  and  importance  of 
the  mission  at  Madras,  conducted  by  a  native  minister  —  a 
Unitarian.  Mr.  Brooks's  report  to  the  American  Unitarian 
Association,  his  earnest  representations  in  private  conver- 
sation, and  his  able  article  in  the  Christian  Examiner— 
"India's  Appeal  to  Christian  Unitarians"  —awakened  a 
great  interest  in  regard  to  India's  spiritual  condition  and 
a  correspondent  desire  to  have  a  mission  established  under 
the  auspices  of  American  Unitarianism. 

But  who  would  be  the  missionary  ?  Mr.  Ball's  heart 
was  moved  by  the  appeal,  and  he  was  ready  to  offer  himself 
for  the  work.  His  wife  felt  that  he  was  in  no  condition 


13 

either  to  take  the  long  voyage  or  to  bear  fatiguing  labor  in 
the  prostrating  climate.  She  could  not  accompany  him  ; 
for  they  had  not  the  requisite  means,  and  their  young  chil- 
dren demanded  her  constant  care. 

His  heart,  however,  was  set  upon  the  undertaking. 
She  consulted  Dr.  Brown,  of  West  Newton,  and  Dr.  John 
Mason  Warren,  of  Boston,  who  thought  that  entire  change 
of  scene  and  the  sea-voyage  might  do  him  great  good.  On 
their  advice  she  consented  to  his  going.  He  went.  The 
voyage  was  fearfully  trying  to  him.  For  weeks  he  fre- 
quently raised  blood ;  and  when  the  vessel  reached  Cal- 
cutta, he  was  carried  ashore,  prostrate  and  unconscious,  in 
a  litter. 

Thus  began  our  brother's  mission,  in  weakness  and,  to 
human  eye,  hopelessness.  But  God  had  a  work  for  him  to 
do ;  and,  through  the  divine  blessing  on  his  self-denying 
and  ceaseless  labors,  it  was  done  —  nobly,  effectively  done. 

In  1855  he  went  to  India,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his 
age.  On  the  I2th  of  last  February,  his  seventieth  birthday 
and  his  thirty  years  of  loving  service  in  and  for  India  were 
celebrated  at  77  Dhurrumtollah  Street,  Calcutta,  with  love 
and  joy  and  the  enthusiasm  of  gratitude.  On  the  i8th  of 
last  July,  after  a  brief  illness,  a  fearful  surgical  operation, 
and  a  few  hours  of  intense  agony,  he  died  —  nay,  let  us 
rather  say,  he  passed  on  to  the  higher  life. 

We  have  read  in  the  Register  of  the  heart-moving  scene 
in  his  room  at  the  hospital  around  his  bed  of  anguish,  the 
loved  and  loving  friends,  native  and  foreign,  in  sympathy 
sharing  his  sufferings.  We  have  read,  too,  that  a  Sister  of 
Mercy  prayed  fervently  at  his  bedside,  and  that  a  large- 
hearted  Methodist  minister  read  the  funeral  service  at  the 
grave,  and  a  minister  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  performed  an 
impressive  ceremonial  in  the  presence  of  a  very  great 
assemblage  of  sorrowing  friends  —  Hindus  and  foreigners. 

When  we  think  of  the  beginning  of  the  mission  and 
with  mind's  eye  see  our  brother  brought  unconscious  from 


14 

the  vessel  —  seemingly  a  dying  man  —  and  then  think  of 
its  triumphant  end,  most  appropriate  to  it  seems  the  majes- 
tic resurrection  language  of  the  apostle  —  "  It  was  sown  in 
weakness,  it  was  raised  in  power." 

The  mission  at  its  earthly  consummation,  as  through 
all  its  unfolding  and  development,  was  thoroughly  accord- 
ant with  the  spirit  in  which  Mr.  Ball  entered  upon  it.  Let 
any  one  who  would  learn  what  that  spirit  was,  turn  to  the 
noble  and  touching  letter  sent  by  him  to  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association,  in  re- 
sponse to  their  desire  that  he  would  draw  up  a  paper  expres- 
sive of  his  feelings  in  regard  to  this  missionary  enterprise. 
By  interesting  coincidence,  the  letter  was  written  on  his 
birthday,  February  12,  1855.  A  portion  of  it  is  here 
presented  :  — 

I  well  remember  the  anxiety  with  which  both  of  the  sainted  Wares 
sought  the  highest  welfare  of  the  Unitarian  Church  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  mission  to  the  East  Indies.  I  was  then  almost  a  child  ;  yet 
from  that  day,  and  through  a  course  of  theological  training  at  their 
hands,  and  fourteen  subsequent  years  of  home  missionary  life  at  St. 
Louis,  in  Baltimore,  in  Canada,  etc.,  I  have  never  wholly  parted  with 
the  wish  and  prayer  to  go  forth  bearing  the  cross  of  such  a  mission. 
I  believe  that  a  missionary  spirit,  longing  to  embrace  the  world,  strug- 
gles for  expression  in  the  enlarging  heart  of  the  Unitarian  Church  not 
less,  but  much  more,  than  it  did  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago.  I 
see  the  self-sacrificing  work  of  a  foreign  mission  connected  more  in- 
timately than  ever  with  our  religious  life  as  a  denomination.  Now, 
more  than  ever,  we  must  water  the  desert  and  solitary  places,  if  we 
would  be  freshly  watered  from  on  high. 

44  Five  years  is  the  average  term  of  life  granted  to  American  mis- 
sionaries in  the  East  Indies,"  says  the  revered  Adoniram  Judson.  after 
an  observation  of  more  than  thirty  years  upon  the  ground.  Still,  "  He 
that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's  shall  find  it,"  and 
"  Whoso  hateth  not  his  own  life  for  my  sake  cannot  be  my  disciple." 
Such  words  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  have  rung  in  my 
ears  from  the  first  day  I  was  able  to  read  them  until  now.  And  now 
shall  I  be  sent  in  a  way  to  engage  many  hearts  around  me  here  to  bless 
and  be  blessed  by  many  there  —  going  with  no  wisdom  but  Christ's 
love  to  perishing  men,  and  an  utter  faith  in  Him  as  the  single  and  only 
God-commissioned  Saviour  of  the  world  ? 


'5 

This  letter  was  read  with  profound  interest.  Mr.  Dall 
was  asked  to  come  before  the  Executive  Committee  ;  and 
after  full  interchange  of  thought,  it  was  unanimously  re- 
solved that  the  Board  should  establish  a  missionary  station 
in  India,  and  that  he  should  be  appointed  missionary. 

His  commission  bore  date  February  22  —  a  good  auspi- 
cious day  for  Americans  to  inaugurate  noble  work.  An 
admirable  "  Letter  of  Instruction "  was  drawn  up  by  the 
Secretary,  Rev.  Henry  A.  Miles,  who  entered  most  heart- 
ily into  the  movement ;  and  on  February  28,  Mr.  Dall 
sailed  from  Boston  for  Calcutta,  in  the  ship  "Napoleon," 
Captain  Barnes  commanding,  taking  with  him  two  large 
boxes  of  books  —  books  filled  with  finest  religious  thoughts, 
seed-thoughts  destined  to  produce  rich  harvests  in  India's 
receptive  mind. 

In  the  course  of  his  letter,  Mr.  Miles  says,  "  You  will 
not  fail,  also,  to  make  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  '  Society 
of  Vedantists,'  referred  to  by  Mr.  Brooks,  and  to  learn  if 
there  are  any  hopeful  ways  of  extending  Christian  influ- 
ences among  them."  Mr.  Dall  was,  moreover,  instructed 
to  put  himself  in  communication  with  Rev.  William  Rob- 
erts, of  Madras  —  in  whose  work  Mr.  Brooks  was  so  deeply 
interested  — a  native  Hindu,  son  of  Rev.  Mr.  Roberts,  who 
was  converted  to  Christianity  through  the  influence  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Adam. 

A  singularly  interesting  case  of  conversion  ;  for  Mr. 
Adam,  an  able  and  scholarly  man,  went  from  England  to 
India  as  a  Trinitarian  missionary,  and  in  endeavoring  to 
convert  that  remarkable  man,  Rammohun  Roy,  to  Trinita- 
rianism,  was  himself  converted  to  Unitarian  Christianity. 

Unfettering,  generous,  trustful,  was  the  charge  given  by 
the  Secretary  to  the  missionary.  "There"  —that  is,  in 
whatever  place  he  might  select  —  "  you  are  instructed  to 
enter  upon  the  work  of  a  missionary ;  and  whether  by 
preaching,  in  English  or  through  an  interpreter,  or  by 
school-teaching,  or  by  writing  for  the  press,  or  by  visiting 


i6 

from  house  to  house,  or  by  translating  tracts,  or  by  circu- 
lation of  books,  you  are  instructed,  what  we  know  your 
heart  will  prompt  you  to  do,  to  give  yourself  to  a  life  of 
usefulness  as  a  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  You  go  out  as  a  Unitarian  missionary,  because  we 
have  reason  to  believe  that  many  will  receive  the  gospel  as 
we  hold  it,  who  reject  the  errors  which  we  believe  others 
have  added  to  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  But 
you  are  not  expected  to  carry  mere  doctrinal  discussions 
and  sectarian  strifes  to  those  distant  lands.  .  .  .  We  wish 
you,  wherever  you  may  meet  missionaries  of  other  denomi- 
nations, to  cultivate  friendly  relations  to  them,  and  to  try 
to  make  them  feel  that  you  are  laboring  not  for  a  sect,  but 
through  a  love  for  the  souls  of  our  fellowmen,  and  in  obedi- 
ence to  His  words  who  said,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.' ' 

To  these  wise  instructions,  to  this  truly  catholic  apos- 
tolic charge,  our  brother  was  faithful  in  spirit,  thought, 
word,  and  life.  With  fine  appreciative  sympathy  with  all 
men,  whether  within  or  without  the  fold,  who  were  seeking 
for  light  and  laboring  to  uplift  humanity,  he  was  loyal,  un- 
compromisingly loyal,  from  beginning  to  end,  to  his  divinely 
appointed  Leader. 

Because  of  his  beautiful,  thoroughly  Christ-like  relation 
to  the  most  spiritually-minded  members  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj,  he  was  sometimes  accused  of  abandoning  Christian- 
ity. No  completer  refutation  of  this  false  accusation  could 
be  asked  for  than  is  furnished  in  the  prompt  and  decisive 
action  of  Mr.  Singha,  Mr.  Ball's  beloved  native  assistant,  or 
colleague,  as  we  may  well  call  him.  When  this  single- 
minded  man,  during  one  of  Mr.  Ball's  absences  from  India, 
was  advised  for  prudence  and  policy's  sake  to  cease  the 
daily  reading  in  school  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  he  instantly 
and  peremptorily  refused,  because,  as  he  said,  "  Mr.  Ball's 
chief  object  in  establishing  his  Mission  School  of  Useful 


Arts  was  to  imprint  Christian  principles  on  the  minds  of 
the  pupils  with  their  other  studies." 

Infinitely  dear  to  our  devoted  brother  were  the  two 
great  New  Testament  thoughts  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God 
and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man.  These  were  to  him  the 
pivotal  ideas,  around  which  must  revolve  "  Our  Lord's 
Church  of  the  Unity ; "  and  of  this  he  felt,  and  in  clear 
vision  saw,  must  ultimately  come  "  the  organization  of 
humanity  under  Jesus  as  its  head." 

During  his  long  missionary  life,  Mr.  Dall's  letters  to 
his  most  intimate  friends  have  always  exhaled  the  sweet 
fragrance  of  Christian  reverence  and  love.  Of  special  sig- 
nificance and  interest  is  a  postal  card  addressed  to  Rev.  Dr. 
Eliot,  bearing  date  so  late  as  June  25,  1886,  which  bears 
spontaneous  and  warm-hearted  evidence  of  his  appreciation 
of  the  inestimable  worth  of  the  positive  Christian  faith,  so 
dear  to  his  early  and  constant  friend. 

This  postal  card,  "  written  only  three  weeks  before  Mr. 
Dall's  death,  and  received  in  St.  Louis  after  that  event," 
is  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  writer.  It  shows,  as 
Dr.  Eliot  says,  "  Mr.  Dall's  childlike  manliness  of  char- 
acter, and  expresses  his  continued  and  affectionate  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ." 

DARJEELING  IN  THE  HIMALAS,  June  25, 
(soon  to  be  in  Calcutta). 

Very  dear  Friend : —  Did  I  thank  you  for  your  lately  received  and 
most  welcome  missive,  congratulating  a  young  missionary  on  the  day 
he  was  seventy,  and  for  its  enclosed  "  heartsease  ?  "  I  am  driving  on 
so  from  pillar  to  post,  packing  and  repacking  papers,  etc.,  that  I  am 
in  danger  of  unwillingly  mislaying  or  forgetting  precious  letters.  Last 
mail  brought  me  Brother  Sunderland's  able  word  on  "  The  Issue  in  the 
West,"  as  much  needed  in  the  far  East  and  here  as  anywhere.  How  I 
joy  in  the  thought  of  the  comfort  you  will  get  from  it!  While  I  realize 
more  clearly  by  its  light  the  weariness  of  soul  you  must  have  had,  in- 
creasingly since  we  parted,  in  long  years  of  decadence  from  your  own 
word  of  God  and  Jesus  on  the  part  of  Western  Unitarianism.  I  am 


i8 

now  in  good  health  after  a  short  illness.     I  drive  the  pen  a  little  too 
hard  for  my  physical  good.     Do  send  me  whatever  you  print. 

The  old  love,  BALL. 

RBV.  WM.  G.  ELIOT,  D.D.,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  U.  S.  A. 

Left  free  to  establish  himself  wherever  his  labors  should 
promise  to  be  most  useful  and  his  influence  widest  and  best, 
Mr.  Dall  quickly  and  clearly  saw  that  Calcutta  was,  unques- 
tionably, of  all  places  in  India,  the  most  fitting  for  his 
work. 

He  also  very  clearly  saw  that  the  work,  while  single  in 
its  aim,  must  be  various  and  comprehensive  in  methods  and 
instruments  ;  and  that  it  must  be  largely  educational,  and 
educational  in  the  deepest  sense  and  widest  range  —  indus- 
trial no  less  than  moral  and  religious,  and  adapted  in  every 
right  way  to  reach  and  hold  the  minds  and  hearts  of  young 
Hindus,  girls  and  boys 

With  this  view,  in  this  spirit,  he  began  and  always  con- 
tinued his  labors.  Preaching,  Sunday  school  instruction, 
lectures,  newspaper  articles,  preparation  of  leaflets  and  little 
books  on  morals  and  "  Life  Lessons  from  Nature,"  ragged 
schools,  industrial  schools,  distribution  of  tracts  and  of 
noblest  books  by  Channing,  Ware,  Parker,  Martineau,  Em- 
erson, Peabody,  Clarke,  Hedge,  Eliot,  and  kindred  souls  — 
nothing  that  could  aid  in  informing,  purifying,  ennobling, 
was  alien  to  his  thought  or  overlooked  in  his  endeavors. 

Regarded  by  some  as  unpractical  and  visionary,  he 
nevertheless  abounded  in  all  kinds  of  practical  and  benefi- 
cent activity.  He  anticipated  by  many  years  the  beautiful 
Post-office  Mission,  having  formed  such  a  mission  as  early 
as  1862,  thus  putting  himself  and  his  work  in  close  connec- 
tion with  one  hundred  and  sixty  towns  and  cities. 

With  a  mind  that  was  intuitional  and  poetic  rather  than 
logical  were  connected  uncommon  ingenuity  and  great  skill 
in  the  use  of  tools.  In  his  journeyings  to  and  fro  in  India, 
his  eye  was  always  open  to  the  wants  and  ways  of  the 


19 

people  ;  and  he  abounded  in  suggestions  of  methods  and 
instruments  for  rendering  labor  easier  and  more  effective. 

With  somewhat  of  "  Orientalism  "  in  his  nature,  which 
tended  to  mysticism  and  placed  him  near  the  India  mind, 
was  united  no  little  of  Occidental  shrewdness  and  solid 
common  sense.  The  very  many  orders  sent  by  him  to 
Boston,  and  which  were  faithfully  filled  through  Mrs.  Ball's 
energy  and  unwearied  toil  and  care,  were,  for  pails,  brooms, 
chain-pumps,  toys  for  Christmas,  as  well  as  for  choicest 
books  and  finest  instruments  of  mental  and  spiritual  life. 
A  gift  to  Rev.  William  Roberts,  to  aid  him  in  his  religious 
work,  of  "  five  hundred  rupees,  from  irrigating  machines," 
shows  a  combination  of  Franklin-like  sagacity  with  largest 
benevolence. 

These  various  plans  and  agencies  for  practical  useful- 
ness, which  constantly  expanded  with  his  widening  ac- 
quaintance, and  his  ever  keen  perception  of  human  need, 
involved  great  expenditures,  far  transcending  his  receipts 
from  salary,  from  contributions  by  personal  friends  and 
large-hearted  philanthropists,  and  from  some  amount  of 
governmental  aid.  To  meet  the  pressing  wants,  to  carry 
on  and  enlarge  the  work,  our  devoted  brother  practiced 
rigid  self-denial,  and  labored  indefatigably  in  various  ways 
as  a  money-earner. 

Among  his  other  labors  for  this  end,  he  became  for 
a  time  a  reporter  for  the  Englishman,  reporting  every 
Saturday  for  that  paper  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  of 
British  India.  The  high  character  and  the  great  authority 
of  the  Council,  with  the  far-reaching  influence  of  its  delib- 
erations and  decisions,  make  the  position  of  "Reporter" 
one  of  confidence  and  honor.  His  contributions  to  various 
papers  were  numberless,  and  were  cordially  welcomed  ;  and 
for  some  of  them  he  was  liberally  compensated.  His  valu- 
able book  on  the  Suez  Canal  brought  in  some  money. 

To  do  all  this  work,  in  addition  to  his  daily  duty  as 
intellectual  and  religious  teacher,  and  in  addition,  also,  to 


his  earnest  studies  in  Hindostanee,  in  Bengali  and  San- 
skrit and  some  of  the  Southern  India  tongues  —  Ooria  and 
Tamil  —  the  most  rigid  economy  of  time  was  required. 
The  early  morning  and  the  late  night  hours  found  him  at 
his  desk. 

It  is  marvelous  that  he  could  bear,  in  India's  debilitat- 
ing climate,  such  unremitting  toil.  Nothing  enabled  him 
to  do  it  but  the  divine  blessing  upon  his  brave,  consecrated 
will,  upon  his  temperance,  his  abstinence,  his  unswerving 
observance  of  the  laws  of  life  and  health,  and  his  Christ-like 
love  for  man. 

In  his  grand  mission,  Mr.  Dall  had  admirable  co-workers. 
For  seven  years,  Miss  Chamberlain  gave  her  invaluable  ser- 
vices in  a  boys'  school ;  and  the  noble  work  has  been  con- 
tinued by  her  successor,  Mrs.  Helen  Tomkins,  "  who 
has  one  of  the  highest  and  best  Hindu  girls'  schools  in 
Calcutta." 

To  Mr.  Dwarkanath  Singha,  for  twenty-five  years  head- 
master of  his  Calcutta  schools,  Mr.  Dall  was  devotedly 
attached.  His  letters  abound  in  expressions  of  deep  con- 
fidence, and  of  warm,  grateful  affection  for  this  unfaltering 
and  efficient  fellow-laborer,  who  cooperated  most  heartily  in 
all  Mr.  Ball's  plans  for  promoting  intelligence,  temperance, 
purity,  and  piety — for  building  up  genuine  Christian 
character. 

Five  times  our  brother  returned  to  America  during  his 
thirty-one  years  of  missionary  life  —  in  1862,  1867,  1872, 
1875,  and  1 88 1.  He  attempted  to  return  in  1861,  came  as 
far  as  England,  and  took  passage,  September  loth,  in  the 
"  Great  Eastern."  A  fearful  tempest  was  soon  encoun- 
tered, during  which,  from  injury  to  her  machinery,  the 
vessel  "  became  helpless,  drifting  for  three  days  and  nights 
before  the  storm,  and  finally  carrying  her  passengers  into 
Queenstown,  Ireland,  a  week  after  sailing."  Feeble  in 
health  at  the  time,  though  he  met,  and  helped  his  fellow- 
passengers  to  meet,  the  perils  in  deep  Christian  calmness, 


21 


he  was  physically  prostrated.  So  great  was  his  prostration 
that  he  was  forbidden  to  attempt  the  voyage  again  at  that 
time,  and  after  a  brief  stay  in  England,  he  went  back  to 
India  —  never  again  to  be  the  same  man. 

In  1862,  seven  years  after  leaving  America  on  his 
eventful  mission,  he  returned  to  his  country  and  home. 
Refreshed  and  strengthened  by  some  months  of  rest  and 
full  interchange  of  thought  and  feeling  with  his  loved  ones, 
he  went  back  with  renewed  consecration  to  India,  to  con- 
tinue his  manifold  and  ever-enlarging  labors. 

His  interest  in  the  Brahmo  Somaj  movement,  strong  at 
the  beginning  of  his  mission,  steadily  deepened.  He  appre- 
ciated its  great  spiritual  importance,  and  gladly  rendered  it 
any  aid  in  his  power,  never,  however,  as  has  already  been 
said,  for  a  moment  compromising  his  Christian  principles  or 
forgetting  his  grateful  loyalty  to  his  Leader. 

The  kind  of  service  that  he  rendered  is  shown  by  an  in- 
teresting and  acute  article  on  "The  Personality  of  God," 
published  in  the  Crescent  —  a  paper  of  Southern  India, 
printed  partly  in  English  and  partly  in  Tamil  —  which 
ends  with  these  words  :  "  I  am  a  person,  because  I  feel 
and  trust  and  think  and  act,  and  year  after  year  am  the 
same  I.  If  God  gives  these  powers,  he  has  them  to  give. 
God  feels  and  trusts  and  thinks  and  acts,  and  forever  is, 
at  least,  as  able  as  his  creature.  If  I  am  a  person,  he,  too, 
is  a  person  —  the  infinite  I  AM." 

At  the  bottom  of  a  slip  containing  this  contribution  to 
the  columns  of  the  Crescent,  and  kindly  sent  to  me,  Mr. 
Dall  writes  :  — 

Dear  Brother  H. :  —  I  have  just  written  the  above  at  the  request 
of  the  minister  of  the  Coimbatore  Brahmo  Somaj.  Hindus,  Buddhists, 
Theosophists  —  all  deny  personality  to  the  Most  High.  This  cuts 
away  the  first  article  of  Brahmoism,  whose  only  creed  is  the  Father- 
hood —  personality  —  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man.  I  greatly 
enjoy  helping  them  in  this  way,  as  above. 

That  this  help  was  appreciated  we  cannot  doubt,  when 


22 

we  read  in  the  memorial  article  in  the  Indian  Daily  News 
of  July  22,    1886,  such  words  as  these  :- 

To  what  extent  the  late  minister,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  was  in- 
debted to  him  for  the  Brahmo  Somaj  movement,  is  not  easy  to  deter- 
mine. But  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  it  was  a  great  deal, 
and  his  Brahmo  friends  and  admirers  paid  a  fitting  tribute  to  his  mem- 
ory by  holding  a  special  service  over  his  grave. 

Intense  and  ever-growing  as  was  Mr.  Ball's  interest  in 
India,  his  eye  was  not  closed  to  other  fields  of  Christian 
activity.  On  his  way,  in  1867,  from  Calcutta  to  England 
and  America,  he  visited  Hungary,  where  he  was  received 
with  open  hearts  by  its  devoted  Unitarian  brotherhood. 
His  glowing  reports  of  that  remarkable  community  were 
the  first  to  arouse  a  living  interest  among  American  Uni- 
tarians in  their  true  and  tried  Magyar  brethren.  To  his 
broad  and  generous  soul,  no  earnest  effort,  wherever  made, 
for  the  uplifting  of  any  portion  of  God's  great  family,  was 
alien  or  uninteresting. 

In  this  catholic,  Christ-like  spirit,  our  brother  labored 
to  the  end,  his  sphere  constantly  widening,  his  influence 
deepening  all  the  while. 

How  strong  the  testimony,  how  heart-felt  and  heart- 
moving  the  tribute,  in  the  article  in  the  Indian  Daily  News, 
from  which  we  have  just  quoted  a  sentence!  That  article, 
we  are  informed,  was  written  by  one  of  Mr.  Ball's  best  be- 
loved pupils,  who  knew  as  much  as  any  one  about  his 
revered  friend  and  his  work  in  India.  We  give  a  few  more 
extracts : — 

For  thirty-one  years  Mr.  Dall  has  labored  incessantly  for  the  cause 
of  his  mission,  and  with  a  zeal,  enthusiasm,  and  fidelity  rarely  sur- 
passed. During  the  last  thirty  years,  he  has  been  a  central  figure  in 
all  movements  having  for  their  object  the  social,  moral,  and  religious 
advancement  of  the  people  of  India,  Hindus,  and  Mohammedans.  .  .  . 
Most  tolerant  and  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  he  mixed  freely  with 
all  sections  of  the  native  community,  by  whom  he  was  sincerely  loved 
and  respected.  .  .  .  The  results  of  his  work  as  a  missionary  of  the 
American  Unitarian  Association  fairly  correspond  to  the  methods  em- 


ployed.  It  is  true  he  baptized  few,  but  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  he 
converted  many.  He  preferred  conversion  of  Hindus  by  culture.  The 
right  arm  of  his  duty  and  strength  as  a  missionary  in  India  was  in 
teaching,  in  quickening  mental  power.  His  first  call  to  the  generally 
intelligent  Hindu  was  to  consider  the  ways  of  God  in  the  gospel :  first, 
Who  is  Jesus  ?  then,  Come  to  Jesus.  Who  will  say  that  he  has  not 
converted  the  hearts  of  many  Hindus  to  purer  love,  their  souls  to  a 
holier  worship,  their  minds  to  sounder  thinking  on  God  and  duty,  and 
their  wills  to  his  better  service  ?  He  has  been  in  personal  contact  in 
his  four  schools  with  more  than  eight  thousand  pupils,  mostly  Hindus, 
preaching  to  them  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  as  a  rule,  three  times  a 
week ;  and  the  writer  gratefully  acknowledges  the  great  benefit  he  has 
derived  from  them.  ...  It  was  a  great  consolation  in  his  last  days 
that  the  Home  Board  expressed  their  entire  confidence  in  his  work,  and 
that  the  India  Mission  was  going  to  be  made  perpetual.  A  resolution 
to  that  effect  was  unanimously  passed  at  the  annual  general  meeting  of 
the  American  Unitarian  Association ;  and  we  hope  no  time  will  be  lost 
in  sending  out  a  worthy  successor  to  the  truly  noble  and  good  man, 
whose  death  we  are  mourning  as  a  personal  loss.  s.  N.  M. 

Equally  cordial  and  appreciative  are  the  tributes  of  the 
Indian  Mirror  and  of  the  Statesman  and  Friend  of  India, 
in  their  issues  of  July  20,  1886.  In  the  former,  the  Mir- 
rot,  the  writer,  after  speaking  of  Mr.  Ball's  manifold  labors 
in  his  Mission  House,  in  his  connection  with  the  Calcutta 
School  of  Industrial  Art,  in  the  Useful  Arts'  School 
founded  by  him,  in  the  Ragged  or  Rovers'  School,  in  his 
constant  contributions  to  the  press,  "  which  lost  in  him  a 
valued  coadjutor,"  thus  closes  his  thoughtful,  affectionate 
article :  — 

It  was  only  the  other  day  that  we  recorded  the  celebration  of  his 
seventieth  anniversary.  The  occasion  is  still  fresh  in  our  memory. 
How  he  moved  about  with  the  sprightliness  and  buoyancy  of  youth, 
with  what  fine  intonation  did  he  recite  one  of  Wordsworth's  poems, 
how  kind,  sympathetic,  and  affectionate  in  his  ways  and  manners ! 
That  birthday  was  only  the  harbinger  of  another  birth  in  another 
world. 

And  the  Statesman  says  of  our  brother :  — 

He  was  the  friend  and  well-wisher  of  every  friend  to  the  people  of 
India,  and  was  as  sincere  in  his  intercourse  with  the  people  as  with  his 


24 

own  personal  friends.  He  never  flattered  them  or  concealed  from 
them  what  he  thought  to  be  their  real  weaknesses  and  faults,  but  no 
one  discerned  more  clearly  or  did  homage  more  heartily  to  the  striking 
virtues  of  native  character.  It  was  a  bright  and  happy  old  age  that 
his  presence  brought  with  it  into  all  societies,  and  he  had  long  been  an 
institution  amongst  us.  We  lose  in  our  old  friend  the  most  widely 
known  member,  probably,  of  the  whole  Calcutta  community. 

Such  tributes,  spontaneous  and  heart-prompted,  show  us 
in  lines  of  light  what  kind  of  man  our  beloved  brother  was, 
and  what  kind  of  work  he  did. 

As  we  contemplate  his  mental  life,  from  its  Franklin 
School  opening,  through  its  Latin  School  and  Harvard 
University  experiences,  to  its  Sanskrit  studies  in  Calcutta, 
what  constant  expansion  and  enrichment !  As  we  follow 
his  practical  life-work,  from  the  first  "Free  School"  west 
of  the  Mississippi  to  its  consummation  in  the  Mission 
House  in  India,  what  steady  development  do  we  witness  — 
every  sphere  and  opportunity  of  labor  by  earnest  fidelity 
made  occasion  and  instrument  of  preparation  for  whatever 
succeeding  labor  Providence  had  in  store ! 

And  how  plain,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  providential  lead- 
ing, the  divine  hand  pointing  out  the  way,  the  divine  spirit 
strengthening  the  chosen  one  to  walk  in  it,  when,  to  human 
eye  and  human  love,  the  way  seemed  to  lead  only  to  failure, 
suffering,  death  !  Instead  of  failure,  lo  !  real  and  great  suc- 
cess —  success  in  the  order,  as  the  work  has  been  in  the 
spirit,  of  Jesus. 

What  fidelity,  not  to  the  letter  only,  but,  beyond  the 
letter,  to  the  inmost  spirit,  of  Rev.  Dr.  Miles's  noble  charge 
in  behalf  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association,  February 
22,  1855! 

What  fullest  justification  of  the  loving  confidence  re- 
posed in  its  missionary  by  Dr.  Miles,  by  the  saintly  and 
sainted  Rev.  Charles  Lowe,  by  the  able  men  who  have  fol- 
lowed them  in  the  Secretary's  responsible  office,  by  their 
efficient  coadjutor,  whose  wise  counsels  and  ceaseless  labors 
have  given  great  weight  and  large  meaning  to  the  title  and 


the  office  of  "  Assistant  Secretary,"  and  by  all  the  large- 
hearted  members  of  the  Board,  who  have  seen  and  felt  the 
greatness  of  the  opportunity  offered  in  and  by  India  to 
the  American  Unitarian  Association  for  truly  Christian 
beneficence ! 

When  the  Association  felt  itself  called  by  the  spiritual 
treasures  confided  to  it,  and  by  the  voice  of  many  a  soul 
hungering  and  thirsting  for  purest  and  highest  truth,  to 
begin  a  mission  in  India,  the  good  Father  put  it  into  the 
heart  of  a  Christ-loving,  humane  minister  to  offer  himself 
for  the  self-denying,  noble  work.  His  offer  was  accepted. 
The  work  was  instantly  entered  upon.  Seven  years  of 
untiring  and  effective  labor  had  been  given  to  it  when  an 
event  occurred,  cheering  alike  to  the  devoted  missionary 
and  to  all  to  whom  the  mission  was  dear.  His  personal 
friend,  James  Hayward,  an  earnest  Unitarian  layman,  a 
parishioner  of  that  warm  and  steadfast  friend  of  India, 
Rev.  E.  S.  Gannett,  D.D.,  gave  to  the  Association  the 
generous  legacy  for  the  benefit  of  Foreign  Missions,  which 
constitutes  the  "  Hayward  Fund." 

Because  of  the  spirit  in  which  the  work  of  our  India 
Mission  has  been  done,  and  because  of  the  countless  civil- 
izing, humanizing  agencies  in  action  all  through  British 
India,  the  opportunity  for  widest,  deepest,  truest  Christian 
influence  and  usefulness  is  greater  than  ever  before.  The 
eagerness  with  which  our  finest  religious  literature  is  sought 
by  thousands  of  the  best  minds,  the  gratitude  with  which 
it  is  received,  show  the  largeness  and  the  richness  of  the 
field  offered. 

How  attractive  that  field  to  consecrated  scholars  who 
would  find  inspiration  and  joy  in  such  studies  and  pursuits 
as  have  made  the  names  of  accomplished  missionaries,  like 
Judson  and  Morrison,  equally  dear  to  ablest  Orientalists 
and  to  large-hearted  Christians,  to  all  who  feel  the  great- 
ness and  comprehensiveness  of  our  Saviour's  grand  com- 
mission to  His  disciples  ! 


26 

How  inviting  the  privilege  of  meeting  and  communing 
with  ingenuous  and  truth-seeking  members  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  —  inheritors  of  the  spirit  of  Rammohun  Roy  —  and 
of  all  such  members  of  whatever  association  or  name  as  are 
intent  upon  uplifting  and  ennobling  human  kind ! 

How  attractive,  too,  the  privilege  of  promoting  that 
noble  work  in  behalf  of  the  women  of  India  which  so 
roused  the  enthusiasm  of  Mary  Carpenter,  and  in  which 
and  for  which  Miss  Chamberlain  and  Mrs.  Tomkins  and 
their  sisters  of  kindred  spirit  in  various  denominations  have 
labored  so  efficiently ! 

How  inviting  the  general  educational  work,  mental, 
moral,  spiritual,  industrial,  intent  on  reaching  even  the 
humblest,  and  in  awakening  within  all  the  feeling  of  self- 
respect  and  the  spirit  of  brotherhood,  to  which  Mr.  Singha 
has  devoted  himself  so  unreservedly  and  nobly,  and  which 
has  placed  the  name  of  Mr.  Dall  high  on  the  educators' 
"  Roll  of  Honor  !  " 

Who  can  doubt  that,  when  the  greatness  of  the  oppor- 
tunity is  seen  and  felt,  and  the  appeal  is  made,  it  will  be 
heartily  responded  to,  and  that  the  men  and  the  means 
will  be  forthcoming  so  to  enlarge  and  endow  the  India 
Mission  as  to  put  it  on  broad  and  solid  foundation,  and 
make  it  a  perpetual  and  fragrant  remembrancer  of  the  lov- 
ing and  self-denying  spirit  which  gave  it  being  ? 

To  that  spirit,  revealed  in  all  his  life-work,  our  brother 
has  given  sweet  expression  in  his  touching  poem,  "  The 
Southern  Cross  : " 

Bearing  the  Saviour's  story 

O'er  many  a  league  of  flood, 
'Neath  Afric's  sky  of  glory, 

In  midnight  prayer  I  stood ; 
While  other  constellations 

The  Southern  Cross  outshone, 
And  said,  "  Go,  teach  all  nations 

The  Cross,  that  wins  the  Crown." 


27 

"  Take,  Lord !  O  my  Defender, 

The  grateful  herald  prayed, 
"  My  uttermost  surrender 

Of  heart  and  hand  and  head  !  " 
"  The  cross  of  suffering,  wear  it," 

Came  whispered  o'er  the  sea : 
"  Fear  not,  for  thou  canst  bear  it : 

Christ  bore  it  once  for  thee." 


NOTE.  —  This  Memoir  was  gratefully  received  by  the  family  and 
friends  of  Mr.  Dall.  On  the  2d  of  January,  1887,  Mr.  Heywood  wrote 
to  Mrs.  Dall:  — 

"  A  beautiful  letter  from  your  son  has  gratified  me  much  and  moved  me 
"  deeply.  No  one  ever  tried  more  earnestly  to  do  justice  to  life,  character,  and 
"noble  work,  and  no  one  but  myself  can  know  how  much  thought  and  pains 
"went  into  its  preparation.  The  impression  made  upon  your  mind  and  your 
"  son's,  shows  that  it  was  not  a  failure." 

Dr.  Hedge  was  among  the  many  who  wrote  warmly  to  the  family 
and  the  author.  The  Rev.  Charles  Lowe  had  been  one  of  Mr.  Dall's 
most  loving  friends,  and  his  widow,  Martha  Perry  —  who  very  recently 
passed  on  to  the  higher  life  —  wrote  to  the  author  in  the  warmest 
terms. 

More  than  two  hundred  letters  addressed  to  the  family  at  this 
time  have  been  carefully  preserved,  for  it  was  expected  at  the  time 
that  another  and  fuller  Biography  would  be  printed. 

In  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association, 
and  in  the  Monthly  Journal  which  succeeded  it,  will  be  found  many 
letters  from  the  missionary  himself,  which  illustrate  the  condition  of 
the  country,  and  exhibit  the  nature  of  his  own  work. 

From  Miss  Anne  Whitney,  the  sculptor,  at  the  same  date,  Mrs. 
Dall  received  a  note  containing  the  following  tribute :  — 

"Thank  you  heartily  for  the  little  book,  which  in  so  few  words  tells  the 
"full  story  of  a  saintly,  loving  life.  It  matters  little  -where  such  a  life  ends  or 
"how.  One  could  weep  to  think  that  he  failed  to  see,  to  live  long  enough  to 
"have  the  ministrations  in  his  last  hour,  of  the  dear  daughter  who  was  almost 
"  on  her  way  to  him." 


The  Report  here  printed,  issued  in  the  second  year  of  the 
Mission,  is  the  only  one  which  I  have  been  able  to  find,  out  of 
the  twenty-nine  issued  during  the  Calcutta  ministry.  The  mate- 
rials for  a  proper  life  of  the  Missionary,  including  the  Reports, 
printed  lessons,  hymns  and  letters,  have  been  carefully  preserved. 
When  Mr.  Ball's  trunks  came  back  from  Calcutta,  after  his  death, 
the  interest  in  his  work  was  so  great  that  it  seemed  probable 
a  more  extended  memoir  than  Mr.  Heywood's  would  soon  be 
wanted,  but  it  has  not  yet  seemed  best  to  disturb  the  two  iron 
boxes  in  which  his  papers  remain. 

I  found  accidentally  a  report  issued  in  London,  just  after  the 
loss  of  the  "Great  Eastern,"  in  1861.  This  report  concerns  gen- 
tlemen in  England,  who  were  ready  to  help  Mr.  Ball's  work  in 
Calcutta,  and  was  evidently  brought  out  when  he  was  too  ill  to 
superintend  it,  and  has  no  value  except  this,  that  it  shows  the 
warm  interest  which  his  work  excited  among  English  Unitarians. 


29 


The  Mission  to  India 

instituted  by  the 

American  Unitarian  Association 
February, 


Containing 

1  Report  by  the  Secretary  to  the  "  Calcutta  Association." 

2  Report  by  the  Treasurer  to  the  Calcutta  Society. 

3  Narrative  of  Proceedings  in  Connection  with  the  Mis- 
sion, by  the  Rev.  Charles  H.  A.  Dall. 


Boston 

Office  of  the  Quarterly  Journal 

2t   Bromfield  Street 

1857 


TO    THE    READER. 


IN  consequence  of  the  great  attention  which  the  English 
government  has  of  late  bestowed  upon  the  establishment  of 
schools  in  British  India,  many  thousands  of  young  persons  are 
there  growing  up  dissatisfied  with  Hindooism  and  Mahometanism, 
and  inquisitive  to  learn,  and  ready  to  receive,  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, which  they  see  is  identified  with  the  improvements  and 
progress  of  the  best  modern  civilization.  One  of  the  widest 
and  noblest  fields  for  Christian  effort  is  thus  opened.  Various 
denominations  of  Christians  in  different  parts  of  the  world  have 
entered  it,  with  a  promptitude  and  liberality  worthy  of  all  respect. 
But  most  of  them  labor  under  a  signal  disadvantage.  To  a  people 
alienated  from  polytheism  in  all  its  forms,  they  have  carried  meta- 
physical discussions  about  three  persons  in  the  Trinity ;  and  if 
they  have  turned  to  the  Mahometan  population,  they  have  met 
minds  resolutely  bent  upon  receiving  no  theology  which  conflicts 
with  the  sole  and  undivided  unity  of  God.  It  is  well  known  that 
missionaries  have  labored  during  several  years  without  making  a 
single  convert. 

It  is  now  more  than  thirty  years  since  the  attention  of  Chris- 
tians in  New  England,  believing  in  one  God  the  Father,  was 
turned  to  the  importance  of  missionary  efforts  in  India.  Obstacles 
which  need  not  be  named  stood  in  the  way ;  and  it  was  not  till 
the  autumn  of  1854,  when  an  affecting  appeal  came  from  India, 
that  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Unitarian  Associ- 
ation resolved,  that,  if  favored  by  the  blessing  of  God,  they  would 
send  a  missionary  to  Calcutta. 

It  was  difficult  to  find  the  right  man.  The  case  was  peculiar. 
Some  one  was  needed  whose  character,  in  culture,  in  enthusiasm, 
in  fervid  piety,  would  present  points  of  contact  with  the  interest- 
ing people  of  the  East.  In  1824,  Rammohun  Roy  wrote  to  the 
late  Dr.  Ware,  Senior,  that  "  much  good  cannot  be  expected  from 

33 


34 

public  preachings ; "  but  that  if  men  of  education  could  be  sent 
out,  to  establish  schools,  circulate  books,  and  teach  by  personal 
explanation  and  persuasion,  "  Christianity  in  its  genuine  sense 
must  make  a  strong  impression  on  every  intelligent  mind."  A 
man  was  wanted  whose  heart  would  be  in  this  work, —  a  man  dili- 
gent, gentle,  persuasive,  of  good  culture,  and,  above  all,  of  earnest 
and  devout  spirit. 

The  Committee  unanimously  appointed  Rev.  C.  H.  A.  Ball 
as  Missionary  to  India,  who,  after  receiving  the  full  instructions 
to  which  he  refers  in  the  following  Report,  sailed  from  Boston, 
February  28,  1855.  He  commenced  his  labors  in  July  following. 
At  that  time  a  Society  was  formed  in  Calcutta,  called  the  "  Society 
for  Promoting  the  Gospel  in  India,"  and  it  is  to  this  Society  that 
the  following  first  annual  Reports  of  its  Secretary,  Treasurer,  and 
Missionary  are  made. 

These  Reports  are  here  printed  and  placed  in  your  hand, 
with  the  respectful  request  that  you  will  give  them  a  careful 
perusal.  The  last  of  the  three  will  furnish  you  with  much  inter- 
esting information  in  regard  to  the  religious  wants  of  India,  and 
will  show  what  encouragement  American  Christians  have  to  send 
a  fresh  word  of  light  and  of  love  to  those  distant  shores  of  the 
Old  World. 

The  whole  subject  of  Foreign  Missions,  as  is  well  known,  has 
been  viewed  in  various  lights.  Perhaps  you  have  thought  well  of 
them,  and  have  contributed  to  their  support,  even  where  they  in- 
culcate a  theology  which  you  do  not  believe  to  be  true.  In  this 
case,  you  may  be  glad  to  have  it  in  your  power  to  give  aid  to  a 
Mission  designed  to  diffuse  the  pure  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  un- 
mixed with  human  additions  and  corruptions.  Perhaps,  on  the 
other  hand,  you  have  looked  upon  the  whole  enterprise  of  sending 
the  Gospel  to  distant  lands  with  doubt  and  distrust.  The  records 
of  this  enterprise,  it  must  be  admitted,  while  containing  bright 
examples  of  heroic  self-sacrifice,  do  not  furnish  results  correspond- 
ing with  the  hopes  at  first  awakened.  The  fact  should  teach  us 
to  moderate  our  expectations,  even  in  regard  to  a  work  whose 
beginning  is  so  auspicious  as  that  described  in  the  following 
pages.  Still,  we  must  set  aside  the  best  established  facts  of  his- 
tory before  we  can  doubt  that  Foreign  Missions  have  largely 
contributed  to  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and 


35 

have  been  attended  by  a  blessing  from  Him  who  said,  "  Go  into 
all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  Grateful 
for  what  that  Gospel  has  done  for  us,  can  we  not  give  something 
to  impart  it  unto  others  ?  Thousands  of  youthful,  inquiring  minds 
are  asking  us  for  bread :  shall  we  give  them  a  stone  ? 


N.  B.  The  following  Reports  are  reprinted  from  The  Bengal 
Hurkaru,  of  September  i,  1856, —  a  newspaper  published  in 
Calcutta. 


MISSION   TO  INDIA. 


SECRETARY'S    REPORT. 

To  HODGSON  PRATT,  ESQ.,  C.  S.,    President  of  the   "  Unitarian 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  India." 

DEAR  SIR  :  —  I  have  much  pleasure  in  forwarding  to  you  the 
very  full  and  complete  Report  of  the  operations  of  the  last  half- 
year,  as  furnished  by  Mr.  Dall,  which  I  hope  will  be  satisfactory. 

I  have  nothing  to  add  to  his  very  able  narrative,  unless  it 
be  to  regret  that  it  has  not  been  found  practicable,  as  yet,  to 
organize  any  really  working  committee  for  the  management  of  the 
secular  affairs  of  the  Mission,  and  for  cooperation  with  Mr.  Dall. 

Considering  the  short  time  the  Mission  has  been  established, 
and  the  many  obstacles  and  prejudices  to  be  overcome,  I  think 
you  will  agree  with  me,  that  our  progress  has  been  all  that  could 
be  reasonably  anticipated. 

I  shall  feel  obliged  by  your  forwarding  a  copy  of  the  Report 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association,  and  would 
suggest  the  expediency  of  having  it  printed,  as  in  the  previous 
instance. 

Believe  me  to  remain,  very  truly  yours, 

A.  H.  RHOADES,  JR.,  Secretary. 
Calcutta,   ist  July,  1856. 


TREASURER'S    REPORT. 

Calcutta,  ist  July,  1856. 

To    HODGSON    PRATT,  ESQ.,  C.  S.,    President   of   the    Unitarian 
Association,   Calcutta. 

DEAR  SIR  :  —  I  beg  to  hand  to  you  the  Half-yearly  Report, 
ending  3oth  June.  The  state  of  our  treasury  is  not  discouraging, 
considering  the  difficulties  that  the  Mission  has  had  to  encounter. 

37 


38 

Our  subscription  list  remains  nearly  the  same  for  monthly  sub- 
scribers, while  our  donation  list  has  been  equal  to  our  anticipation. 
In  my  last  I  presented  you  with  an  account  against  the  Association 
of  Rs.  250  2  3,  and  including  that  amount  with  the  six  months' 
work  of  the  Mission,  I  show  to  you  a  balance  due  to  the  Treasurer 
of  Rs.  153  43.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  succeeding  six 
months  I  shall  be  enabled  to  make  as  good  a  report  as  I  now 
have  the  pleasure  of  doing.  Yet  our  Society  is  dependent  upon 
subscriptions  as  a  society,  and  we  must  look  to  the  home  Associ- 
ation for  more  aid  than  we  now  possess.  Our  pastor  is  gaining 
influence  daily,  and  the  allowance  made  to  him  from  home  and 
here  is  barely  adequate  to  meet  his  wants.  Our  printing  fund, 
as  you  will  note,  is  cramped  for  want  of  means.  The  means 
should  be  provided  from  home ;  and,  with  a  generous  allowance 
for  a  short  period,  it  is  probable  that,  in  a  liberal  community  such 
as  we  have  in  Calcutta  and  its  suburbs,  we  shall  be  able  to  go  on 
without  assistance.  With  such  an  energetic  pastor  as  Mr.  Dall, 
we  shall  not  require  the  aid  of  crutches  for  a  great  length  of  time. 
Doubtless  your  letters  and  the  Secretary's  Report  will  touch  upon 
what  I  have  strenuously  advocated,  both  in  this  and  in  my  last 
Report,  —  the  want  of  funds.  Trusting  that,  with  our  united 
efforts,  we  shall  be  able  to  sustain  the  Mission,  and  to  accomplish 
what  the  most  ardent  friends  of  the  cause  desire,  I  remain, 
dear  sir,  faithfully  yours, 

RICHARD  LEWIS,   Treasurer. 


Unitarian  Association,  in  Account  Current   with   Richard  Lewis, 

Treasurer. 

EXPENDITURES. 

Rs.     A.  P. 
To  Balance  from  last  Account  .         .         .         .         .     250     2     3 

Expenses  from  ist  January  to  1st  July,  1856. 

Rs.     A.    P. 
Mr.  Ball's  salary  for  six  months,  at  60,      360     o     o 

Rent  of  Mission  Room  for  do.,  at  60,    .     360     o     o 
Advertising  .         .         .         .         .         .       82   10     o 

Sundry  expenses  .         .         .         .         .1180 

814     2     o 

Amount  carried  over,  1,064     4     3 


39 

Rs.        A.    P. 
Amount  brought  forward,  1,064     4     3 

Mr.  DalPs  Account. 

Rs.     A.     P. 
By  sales  of  books  from  June,  1855,  to 

July,  1856 167    13     o 

To  expenses  incurred  by  Mr.  Dall. 

Printing  300  copies  of  Ben-    RS.     A.   P. 
gali  Tract       .         .         .1000 

Import  charges  on  books     .     127     o 

Book-case  to  preserve  do.    .       920 

Sweeper  for  Mission  Room,        340 

Paid  to  the  distressed  con- 
verts and  their  families,     136   15      o 

Blank -books     for     Mission 

Room      .         .         .         .420 

175    14     o 


Donations  for  Printing  Rev.  Mr.  Dall's  Ten  Lectures. 

Rs.     A.     P. 

Cost  of  printing  and  binding  200  copies,    134     o     o 
Received  from  Messrs.  A.  H.    RS.     A.   P. 
Rhoades,  Jr.    .         .  25     o     o 

R.  Lewis,  Esq.  .  .  .  25  o  o 
H.  Pratt,  Esq.  .  .  .1000 
H.  Counsell,  Esq.  .  .1000 
E.  W.  Hoppner,  Esq.  .  .1000 
Charles  Bailey,  Esq.  .  .1000 
Baboo  Pearychund  Mitter  .  5  o  ^o_ 

95     o     o 

39     c 

Add    Baboo    Kissorychand 

Mittra    .         .         .         .1000 
(Accidentally  omitted,  see  next  half-year's  account.) 


Company's  Rupees,     mi      5     3 
1856. 
July  ist,  To  Balance  due  Treasurer          .         .         .       153     4     3 


40 

RECEIPTS. 

By  Donations  during  the  Second  Half-year,  ending  ist  July, 

Rs.     A.    P.     Rs.      A.    P. 

John  Atkinson,  Esq.      .         .  .  .1000 

F.  L.  Mackey,  Esq.        .         .  .  .         400 

J.  W.  Linzee,  Esq.         .         .  .                32     o     o 

C.  H.  Bailey,  Esq.         .         .  .  .       25     o     o 

Peter  Durnan,  Esq.       .         .  .  .         400 

John  E.  Armory,  Esq.  .         .  .  .1600 

Charles  M.  Rollins,  Esq.       .  .  .       1600 

Francis  T.  Rollins,  Esq.         .  .  .        1600 

John  S.  Barstow,  Esq.  .         .  .  .1600 

Captain  F.  H.  Bangs     .         .  .  .         400 

Captain  G.  B.  Wendell           .  .  .         400 

Captain  Harding  .         .         .  .  .         400 

Baboo  Rajender  Dutt   .         .  .                25     o     o 

Baboo  Kalidas  Dutt      .         .  .                25     o     o 

Baboo  Joynarain  Bhose          .  .  .         800 

Baboo  Hurchunder  Dutt        .  .  .         300 

Baboo  Pearychund  Mitter     .  .  .         500 

Baboo  Rakal  Doss  Haldar    .  .  .         i     o     o 

S.  B.  Mower,  Esq.         .         .  .  .         800 

Charles  E.  Endicott,  Esq.      .  .  .         8     i     o 

Baboo  Sreekistno  Chatterjee  .  .         i     o     o 

Baboo  Gopaul  Chunder  Banerjee  .         i     o     o 

Baboo  Chunder  Nauth  Banerjee  -  .         i     o     o 

Baboo  Gooroo  Churn  Banerjee  .  .         i     o     o 

238     i     o 

Subscriptions  from  Native   Gentlemen. 

Baboo  Onongo  Mohun  Mitter,  from  Feb- 
ruary to  October,  1856  .  .  .  300 

Baboo  Radanauth  Sicdar,  November, 

1855,  to  April,  1856  .  .  .  600 

Baboo  Kissory  Chund  Mitter         .         .  600 

Baboo  Hurchunder  Dutt  600 


Amounts  carried  over,          21     o     o     238 


Rs.    A.    P.       Rs.     A.    P. 
Amounts  brought  forward,        21      o     o     238     i     o 

Baboo  Chundy  Churn  Singha,  January, 

1856  3     o     o 

Baboo  Rakal  Doss  Haldar    .         .         .         200 

26     o     o 


By  Subscriptions  from  ist  January  to  ist  July,  1856. 

Hodgson  Pratt,  Esq. 

.     150 

O       0 

Richard  Lewis,  Esq. 

.       60 

o     o 

A.  H.  Rhoades,  Jr.,  Esq. 

24 

o     o 

John  Atkinson,  Esq. 

.       30 

o     o 

F.  A.  Tilton,  Esq. 

.       30 

0       0 

J.  G.  Whitney,  Esq. 

.       30 

o     o 

C.  F.  Bliss,  Esq.   . 

24 

O       0 

Adams  Bailey,  Esq. 

.         .         .       96 

0       0 

N.  C.  Tuckerman,  Esq. 

.       18 

0       0 

Robert  Nunn,  Esq. 

.       48 

o     o 

O.  B.  Everett,  Esq. 

24 

o     o 

Norman  Kerr,  Esq. 

.       18 

o     o 

Charles  H.  Bailey,  Esq. 

.       60 

o     o 

James  Dalton,  Jr.,  Esq. 

24 

o     o 

Captain  H.  F.  Doeg      . 

48 

o     o 

E.  W.  Hoppner,   Esq., 

for   April    and 

May,  1856 

10 

o     o 

f\r\  1 

o     o 

°94 

1856,  July  i,  By  Balance 

due  Treasurer 

J53 

4     3 

Company's  Rupees,     mi 

5     3 

E.  E. 

RICHARD  LEWIS,  Treasurer. 
Calcutta,  ist  July,  1856. 


NARRATIVE 

Of  Proceedings  in  Connection  with  the  Unitarian  Mission  to  Cal- 
cutta, for  the  Second  Half-year  ending  the  soth  June,  Drawn 
up  by  the  Missionary,  C.  H.  A.  DALL. 


To  A.  H.  RHOADES,  JR.,  ESQ.,  Secretary. 

DEAR  SIR:  —  Allow  me  to  present  to  you  the  following 
Report. 

ORIGINAL  INSTRUCTIONS. 

The  objects  contemplated  by  the  originators  of  the  present 
Calcutta  Mission,  according  to  the  instructions  brought  by  Mr. 
Ball,  from  Boston,  United  States,  were  as  follows  :  ist.  To  estab- 
lish a  missionary  station  somewhere  in  India.  2d.  To  open  a 
school  for  native  children.  3d.  To  put  Unitarian  books  and  tracts 
in  circulation.  4th.  As  far  as  possible,  to  explore  the  needs  of 
different  places,  beginning  with  Calcutta ;  a  point  which,  in  con- 
sultation with  Hodgson  Pratt,  Esq.,  he  was  to  make  a  "  thorough  " 
trial  of.  5th.  The  Missionary  was  to  learn  what  he  could  about 
the  Hindoo  Unitarians  called  "  Vedantists,"  and  lend  them  all  the 
help  in  his  power.  6th.  He  was  to  visit,  if  possible,  Madras, 
Secunderabad,  Salem,  and  any  other  places  that  should  seem  open 
to  the  simple  Gospel,  and  make  report  of  them  ;  but  especially  to 
extend  a  warm  sympathy  to  the  Rev.  William  Roberts,  of  Madras, 
and  his  faithful  people,  and  his  schools,  yth.  To  remember  the 
Mahometans  in  Madras  and  elsewhere.  8th.  The  Missionary  was 
instructed  to  fix  himself  at  the  most  favorable  point,  and  "give 
himself  to  a  life  of  usefulness  as  a  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  "  preaching  to  all  the  Gospel  of  the  One  only  living  and 
true  God,  and  not  failing  to  enter,  as  far  as  he  might  be  permitted, 
into  the  most  friendly  relations  with  all  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ, 
of  whatever  sect  or  name.  gth.  He  was  to  write  home  of  their 
prospects,  their  successes,  and  their  disappointments,  and  of  his 
own.  It  was  anticipated  that  he  would  hear  from  brethren  in 

42 


43 

Great  Britain,  through  the  British  and  Foreign  Unitarian  Associ- 
ation, and  the  prayer  went  up  that,  with  God's  help,  he  might  be 
the  means  of  binding  yet  closer  the  sympathies  of  American  and 
British  Unitarians. 

The  second  half-year  of  this  Mission  has  just  now  closed ; 
and  the  Missionary  has  been  sustained  not  only  by  those  who  first 
called  him,  under  God,  to  the  work  :  he  has  also  received  steady 
help  from  the  "  Unitarian  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  India,"  which  was  organized  on  Mr.  Ball's  arrival  in 
Calcutta.  There  has  been,  moreover,  a  kindly  response  from 
British  Unitarians,  and  supplies  of  books  and  tracts  have  been 
already  sent  out  from  Bristol  and  from  Liverpool. 

The  order  of  the  "  Instructions  "  just  quoted  will  serve  as 
the  plan  of  the  present  Report. 

I.     OF  THE  PERMANENCY  OF  THE  MISSION. 

To  the  question  whether  a  Unitarian  Mission  may  be  estab- 
lished in  Calcutta,  it  is  replied :  — 

1.  That  the  climate  of  Calcutta  offers  no  serious  obstacle. 
It  is  found  to  be  neither  a  dangerous  nor  a  deadly  one ;  nor  does 
it  forbid  a  reasonable  amount  of  labor  to  one  born  in  a  cooler 
country. 

2.  Friends  and  Seekers  Increase.  —  The   request  comes  to 
us  already,  from  many  Hindoos  and  Christians,  and  even  from 
some  Mahometans  and  Jews,  that  the  Mission  be  made  permanent. 
New  "  inquirers  after  true  religion  "  are  daily  coming  to  the  resi- 
dence  of   the    Missionary.      Nearly  all   of   these    are  intelligent 
heathen  young  men,   many  of   whom   have  heard    something  of 
Jesus,  but  have  seldom  read  the  Bible,  except  as  quoted  in  infidel 
works.     Exclusive  of  the  regular  Sunday  gathering  at  the  Mission 
Room  for  public  worship,  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
men  have  sought  the  Missionary  on  week-days  (for  the  declared 
purpose  of  inquiring  into  Christianity)  during  the  eleven  months 
preceding  July  ist,  1856.     Some  of  these  men  have  spent  many 
hours  in  conversation,  and  continued   their  visits  for  successive 
weeks  and  months.     They  have  purchased  and  borrowed  books 
and  tracts,  and  still  come  for  more.     Some  have  faithfully  com- 
mitted to  memory,  beginning  with  the  Lord's  Prayer,  passage  after 


44 

passage,  selected  for  them  out  of  the  Gospels,  the  Epistles,  and 
the  Psalms. 

3.  Influx  of  Letters.  —  A  correspondence  has  been  opened 
with  individuals  in  distant  cities  of  British  India,  e.g.,  at  Peshawur 
and  at  Bangalore  ;   at  Dacca  and  at  Mysore ;  at  Jessore  and  at 
Bombay ;    at   Mooltan   and    at    Rangoon.      This  correspondence 
might  easily  be  extended,  and  tracts  and  books  be  sent  in  all 
directions  by  the  cheap  book-post. 

4.  Unitarian   Association    in    Southern    India.  —  We    were 
made  happy  in  January  last  by  the  discovery  of  a  Madras   Uni- 
tarian Association,  formed  years  ago  by  a  few  educated  Europeans, 
and  led  by  men  high  in  the  public  service,  though  of  late  it  seems 
to  have  been  languishing  for  the  want  of  sympathy  and  coopera- 
tion.     Its   existence,  even    in    name,  under    regularly  appointed 
officers,  for  a  series  of  years,  offers  an  added  security  to  the  per- 
manence of  a  Unitarian  foothold  in  India.     What  the  Madras  or 
South  Indian  Unitarian  Association  have  long  desired,  but  have 
never  seen  till  now,  is  the  presence  of  an  educated  white  man  to 
encourage  the  native  disciples.     It  is  a  commonplace  remark,  that 
"  if  you  give  them  European  leaders,  you  will  soon  have  a  host  of 
native  Unitarian  Christians ;  they  are  all  ripe  for  it." 

5.  Unitarian  Converts  at   Work.  —  Since  the  arrival  of  an 
American  preacher  in  Calcutta,  seven  or  eight  native  Christians, 
of   fair  education,  have  begun  to  distribute  and  sell  Unitarian 
books  and  tracts,  and  several  are  preaching  in  the  bazaars  and 
villages  around    Calcutta.      Three  have  been   rejected,  with  ex- 
pressions of  strong  disapprobation,  from  as  many  different  Trini- 
tarian Missions,  after  several  years  of  training  or  of  actual  service 
there.     One,  a  Pundit  at  Jessore,  has  gone  through  six  months  of 
suffering,  with  his  wife  and  children,  though  on  making  known 
his  wants  they  have  been  temporarily  relieved.     By  the  blessing 
of   God,  he  has  held  firm  to  his  convictions,  saying  to  such  as 
tempted    him   to   return   to    Brahminism,    Eckon   janate   Bramo, 
"  Now  I  know  God ;  "  "I  am  a  Brahmin  indeed."     Like  this  man, 
who  is  a  grandson  of  the  first  convert  to  Christianity  ever  made 
in  Bengal,  another  born  a  Christian,  who  was  for  a  time  a  teacher 
in  the  London  Missionary  School,  Bhowaneepore,  has  lost  a  home, 
and  is  now  seeking  employment.     A  third  sufferer  for  the  avowal 
of  Unitarian  opinions  is  a  late  graduate  of  Bishop's  College,  born 


45 

at  Shiraz,  in  Persia,  and  receiving  his  first  reverential  thoughts  of 
Jesus  out  of  the  Koran.  He  was  baptized  into  Christianity  nine 
years  ago.  After  a  full  college  course,  and  what  was  considered 
sufficient  theological  training,  he  was  sent  to  preach  and  teach 
eighteen  hundred  miles  northwest  of  Calcutta,  though  he  previ- 
ously told  his  employers  that  his  conversations  with  the  Unitarian 
Missionary,  and  reading  of  Burnap  and  other  works,  had  bent  his 
mind  strongly  to  Unitarianism.  He  has  been  some  time  in  feeble 
health.  What  he  is  to  do  in  his  present  isolated  position  in  the 
far  northwest  does  not  yet  appear.  Being  on  the  borders  of 
Persia,  familiar  with  the  Persian  tongue,  and  among  such  as  are 
reported  liberal  and  inquiring  Mahometans,  it  is  probable  that  he 
will  not  be  long  in  making  to  himself  a  home.  Besides  the  three 
now  mentioned,  there  are  three,  if  I  should  not  say  four,  other 
Christian  teachers,  natives  of  Bengal,  who  have  a  seminary  of 
heathen  youth,  known  as  the  Bali  Training  School,  wholly  in  their 
charge.  They  also  go  out  to  teach  Christianity  in  the  surround- 
ing villages,  during  vacations,  and  whenever  they  can  find  leisure. 
Energy  like  that  of  the  head  and  proprietor  of  this  school,  Baboo 
Chundy  Churn  Singha,  is  not  common  in  Bengal.  He,  too,  is  a 
graduate  of  Bishop's  College ;  but  after  preparation  and  several 
years'  preaching,  he  obtained  permission  to  make  himself  an  inde- 
pendent teacher  of  youth.  In  time  he  became  sole  proprietor  of 
a  good  schoolhouse  and  school  on  the  Hooghly,  seven  miles  above 
Calcutta.  Several  conversations  with  the  American  Missionary 
sufficed  to  clear  his  mind  of  perplexities,  that  had  nearly  driven 
him  out  of  Trinitarian  into  infidel  views.  It  appears,  however, 
that,  on  the  day  on  which  he  declared  himself  a  Unitarian,  every 
Trinitarian  subscriber  to  his  school  withdrew  his  name,  thus  re- 
ducing his  means  at  once  by  the  amount  of  five  hundred  rupees 
a  year.  Happily  for  him,  however,  he,  about  the  time  of  that 
crisis,  obtained  a  government  "  grant  in  aid "  of  one  hundred 
rupees  a  month,  or  twelve  hundred  rupees  a  year,  in  place  of  the 
five  hundred  he  had  lost  by  his  honesty.  Besides  this  excellent 
teacher  and  his  faithful  wife,  two  men,  of  very  fair  abilities,  who 
are  his  assistant  teachers,  are  now  active  Unitarians ;  and  another 
also  attends  on  our  Unitarian  worship,  with  several  of  the  older 
pupils.  It  is  due  to  the  native  disciples  that  have  joined  us  to 
say  that  in  no  case  has  assistance  of  any  kind  been  promised 


46 

them  in  advance,  and  that  they  have  gained  no  outward  good  by 
the  change.  Only  in  two  or  three  instances  have  they  or  their 
families  received  what  might  keep  off  starvation.  Some  have  lost 
much,  and  still  refuse  tempting  offers  to  return. 

6.  Applications  for  Instruction  in  America.  —  Few  can  under- 
stand the  attachment  of  the  Hindoo  to  his  native  soil,  and  his 
dread  of  leaving  it.     Christianity  has  begun  to  subdue  this  instinc- 
tive dread.     Still,  the  offer  of  a  high-caste  Hindoo  of  twenty  years 
of  age  to  go  to  America,  and  be  there  theologically  trained  for 
service  as  preacher  (in  the  Bengali  tongue)  to  his  own  people, 
may  well  be  regarded  as  a  work  of  God's  Holy  Spirit.     That  work 
has  thus  begun  to  show  itself  among  Hindoos  of  English  educa- 
tion, in  and  near  Calcutta.     One  of  the  teachers  of  the  Bali  School, 
Takoor  Dass  Roy,  in  March  last,  wrote  a  brief  account  of  himself 
and  forwarded  it  to  the  American  Unitarian  Association,  asking 
to  be  allowed  to  come  to  America  and  enter  a  Unitarian  Divinity 
School,  with  a  view  to  an  entire  devotion  of  himself  to  preaching 
the  Gospel  in  India,  in  a  language  seldom  spoken  effectively  by 
one  not  born  in  Bengal.     Others,  partially  educated  men,  able  to 
read  and  write  English  well,  have  expressed  a  similar  desire  to  go 
to  America  and  prepare  themselves  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  their 
idolatrous   fellow-countrymen.      Here,   again,  is   the    pointing  of 
Providence,  and  a  signal  one,  towards  the  permanency  of  this 
Mission.     It  need  never  fail  for  want  of  men,  provided  the  means 
are  not  withheld  to  fit  them  for  their  work. 

7.  Regular  Sunday  Services.  —  Many,  perhaps,  would  con- 
sider the  permanency  of  the  Mission  to  be  best  asserted  in  the 
fact   that  congregational  worship  and    pastoral    duty  have   been 
regularly  sustained.     Those  who  first  welcomed   the  Missionary 
have  continued  cheerfully  to  meet  the  expenses  of  an  eligible  hall 
for  our  public  services.     These  services  have  occupied  three  or 
four  hours  of  every  Sunday.     The  hall  was  also  lighted  up,  and 
lectures  were  given,  during  the  cooler  months,  on  ten  successive 
Wednesday  evenings.     The  Sunday  services  have  been  listened 
to  by  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  different  persons,  though 
the  average  attendance  would  not  exceed  thirty.     They  have  fol- 
lowed the  usual  Protestant  order  of  worship,  in  which  the  congre- 
gation generally  unite,  as  guided  by  our  liturgy  and  hymn-book. 
A  written  discourse  is  of  course  an  important  element ;  and  this 


47 

is  adapted,  as  far  as  may  be,  to  the  needs  of  the  place,  the  time, 
and  the  people,  and  some  have  gone  out  from  these  services  to 
procure  a  Bible  and  read  it  for  the  first  time. 

8.  The  Sunday  School  was  commenced  on  the  first  Sunday 
in  January,  1856,  with  an  attendance  of  six  persons.  From  that 
date  it  has  met  uninterruptedly.  Sixty  different  persons  have 
been  present,  including  pupils  and  teachers,  yet  the  attendance 
has  not  exceeded  twenty-five  upon  any  one  of  the  twenty-six 
Sundays  of  the  half-year.  Some  of  the  pupils  use  a  Boston 
"  Manual ;  "  but  the  most  numerous  class  is  a  conversational  one, 
composed  of  adults  of  the  congregation,  mostly  Hindoo  young 
men.  They  remain  after  morning  service  to  inquire  into  matters 
presented  in  the  sermon,  or  to  obtain  of  the  pastor,  viva  voce,  what 
is  increasingly  asked  for,  namely,  a  Unitarian  commentary  on  the 
New  Testament.  This  course  of  exposition  has  been  pleasantly 
interrupted  at  times  by  fraternal  controversies  between  Hindoos 
and  Europeans,  or  Americans,  concerning  the  attributes  of  God, 
man's  immortality,  the  miracles  of  Christ,  the  most  effective  ways 
of  undermining  idolatry,  etc.  Including  the  pastor's  conversation 
class,  the  average  attendance  for  six  months  at  our  Sunday  school 
has  been  fifteen.  Much  might  be  made  of  this  new  branch  of 
the  work,  but  for  the  formidable  obstacles  of  the  climate,  the 
difficulty  of  gaining  access  to  native  homes,  and  for  the  heavy 
pressure  of  other  missionary  duties.  For  the  information  of  dis- 
tant friends,  it  may  here  be  mentioned  that  the  following  standing 
notices  are  given  at  the  close  of  every  Sunday  morning's  service, 
viz  :  (i)  "I  daily  meet  all  inquirers  and  friends  at  my  residence, 
especially  in  the  afternoon."  (2)  "  Conversation  on  Christian 
truth  is  invited  here  at  the  close  of  service."  (3)  "  Books  and 
tracts  lie  on  the  table  for  examination  and  distribution  :  the  tracts 
are  free  of  cost."  (4)  "  All  are  invited  to  join  with  us  in  the 
Sunday  school,  from  twelve  to  two  o'clock."  The  facts  now  men- 
tioned, —  namely,  the  spread  of  inquiry,  an  increasing  correspond- 
ence, the  existence  of  a  Unitarian  Association  in  Southern  India, 
the  number  of  converts  in  actual  service,  the  desire  of  Hindoos 
to  be  thoroughly  educated  to  a  Unitarian  Gospel  ministry,  our 
regular  pulpit  and  pastoral  services,  and  the  cooperation  of  a  few 
of  our  members  in  teaching  a  Sunday  school,  —  all  these  facts  go 
to  sustain  a  calm  and  reasonable  hope,  that  if  we  are  faithful  to 


48 

learn  and  to  do  the  will  of  God  in  India,  our  just-opened  Mission 
will  be  no  spasmodic  effort,  but  be  established  in  permanent  use- 
fulness, and  prove  a  joy  and  a  blessing  for  many  years. 

II.     THE  OPENING  OF  SCHOOLS. 

1.  Material  for  Schools  lies  all  around    us,  waiting  to  be 
taken  up.     More  than  one  village  within  a  dozen  miles  of  Cal- 
cutta has  expressed  a  desire  to  place  its  principal  school  under 
the  supervision  and  influence  of  the  American  Unitarian  Mission. 
Messages  to  that  effect  have  come  to  us  from  Debbypore,  from 
Chotta  Moshtollah,  etc.     Men  also  are  to  be  found,  ready  and 
able  to  teach,  under  an  efficient  principal.     There  are  practiced 
teachers  who,  for  accepting  Unitarian  opinions,  have  been  expelled 
from  Trinitarian  schools,  and  whom  we  long  to  employ.      The 
money  is  all  we  want.     Without  money  we  can  neither  pay  pun- 
dits, nor  hire  nor  build  schoolhouses,  nor  even  travel  back  and 
forth  as  superintendents.     Pupils  abound,  and,  according  to  the 
rule  of  other  missionary  schools,  would  each  expect  to  pay  a  fee 
of  four  annas  (sixpence,  or  twelve  and  a  half  cents)  a  month. 
From  seven  to  fifteen  dollars  a  month  would  be  the  salary  of  com- 
petent native  teachers ;    but  there  could   be  no  marked  success 
without  the  supervision  of  a  schoolmaster  who  was  not  an  Asiatic, 
and  such  a  man  could  not  live  decently  on  less  than  seven  or  eight 
hundred  dollars  a  year.     Our  President,  Hodgson  Pratt,  Esq.,  has 
lately  said :  "  We  must  have  a  College  or  High  School,  similar  to 
those  of  the  other  missionary  bodies."     "  It  would  be  a  grand 
thing  to  have  the  moral   and  religious  training  of  hundreds  of 
intelligent  young  Hindoos,  at  an  age  when  their  hearts  are  not 
hardened  by  the  evil  influences  of  Hindoo  society,  and  while  their 
ears  are  still  open  to  the  truth."     "  In  this  way,  too,  we  shall  have 
the  means  of  employing  these  young  converts  who  show  such  a 
disposition  to  come  over  to  us."     The  reason  why  we  have  not 
yet  thought  of  establishing  a  Unitarian  "  College  or  High  School  " 
is  sufficiently  apparent.     The  money  is  wanting.     While  waiting 
for  friends  at  home  to  supply  the  means  for  the  school  we  desire, 
we  are  providentially  able  to  trace  the  influence  of  our  Mission 
into  schools  where  native  Unitarian  Christians  are  at  work. 

2.  The   Bali    Training   School,    already   mentioned,    has    a 
zealous  Unitarian  Christian  for  its  proprietor  and  head  teacher. 


49 

During  the  last  six  months  this  school  has  had  an  average  daily 
attendance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  boys  and  young  men,  all  of 
them  belonging  to  idolatrous  families,  but  themselves  rapidly  dis- 
carding idolatry  and  its  hideous  errors.  The  principal,  three 
pundits,  and  four  assistants,  with  several  of  the  older  pupils,  come 
to  us  from  Bali  (seven  miles)  in  a  boat,  when  the  dangerous 
Hooghly  with  its  "  bore  "  and  tides  will  permit,  to  attend  on  the 
Sunday  services  of  the  Mission  Room.  These  visits  are  occa- 
sionally returned,  and  the  school  examined  and  addressed.  Female 
education  has  been  attempted,  with  little  or  no  success  in  India 
thus  far.  The  women  of  Bengal,  at  least  the  faithful  wives  and 
mothers,  are  buried  in  idolatrous  superstition,  and  imprisoned  for 
life  in  the  zenana,  nearly  out  of  the  reach  of  instruction.  A  few 
Hindoos  are  teaching  their  wives  to  read,  and  some  men  of  wealth 
have  lately  admitted  European  teachers,  ladies,  into  the  zenana,  or 
women's  apartments.  Still,  so  few  opportunities  are  opened  for 
female  education,  that  we  cannot  but  thank  God,  and  feel  a  pecu- 
liar joy  and  pride  in  the  Girls'  School  at  Bali,  —  wherein  thirty- 
five  Hindoo  girls  are  regularly  taught,  besides  half  a  dozen  native 
Christian  girls,  by  the  (native  Christian)  wife  of  Baboo  Chundy 
Churn  Singha. 

3.  Daily  Instruction  is  given  by  the  Missionary  to  such  as 
come  to  him.     Two  hours  are  devoted  to  it  every  Sunday  at  the 
Mission  Room  :  namely,  from  twelve  o'clock,  M.,  to  two,  P.M.  ;  and 
at  the  Missionary's  residence,  from  four  o'clock  to  six,  P.M.     For 
not  less  than  two  or  three  hours  every  day,  instruction  is  given  to 
the  inquirers  already  mentioned,  who  attend,  from  three  to  ten 
of  them,  daily.     Most  of  these  pursue  their  prescribed  reading  with 
some  regularity,  and  also  from  time  to  time  repeat  portions  of  the 
Bible  by  heart.     Thus,  turning  his  own  chamber  into  a  school- 
room, the  Missionary  has  become  a  daily  teacher,  not   of  boys, 
but  of  men. 

4.  As  a  Lecturer,  by  the   frequent    invitation    of  different 
societies  of  natives,  mostly  young  men  interested  in  progress  and 
reform,  the  objects  contemplated  in  a  school  for  the  Mission  are 
again,  in  part,  accomplished.     These  lectures  are  usually  delivered 
at  night,  before  audiences  varying  in  number  from  thirty  to  three 
or  four  hundred.     A  course  of  Theological  Lectures,  which  have 
since  been  published,  occupied  ten  successive  Wednesday  evenings 


5° 

during  a  part  of  the  cooler  months  of  January,  February,  and 
March,  and  succeeding  to  these  were  the  following :  — 

April  j.  In  the  heart  of  the  native  town,  a  lecture  before  a 
newly  formed  society  of  young  men,  "  The  Philanthropic  Associ- 
ation ;  "  subject,  "  The  Temperance  Movement  in  America."  A 
temperance  movement  in  Bengal  was  then  inaugurated  by  the 
adoption  of  a  total  abstinence  pledge,  to  which  seven  hundred 
names  have  since  been  subscribed.  Several  temperance  lectures 
have  since  been  given  ;  the  daily  journals  have  all  encouraged  this 
much-needed  work  of  warning  and  redemption,  and  it  seems  to  be 
making  good  progress. 

April  10.  An  address,  by  invitation,  to  the  "  Young  Men's 
Improving  Society,"  on  "  What  Makes  a  Man  ?  Moral  and  Re- 
ligious Worth,"  —  in  the  native  town,  and  under  the  roof  of  an 
orthodox  Hindoo  (idolater). 

April  ig.  Lecture  to  members  of  the  Oriental  Seminary,  in 
the  native  town.  Subject,  "  What  has  destroyed  the  American 
Indian  ?  Copying  the  Vices  of  his  Conquerors." 

April  28.  Lecture  to  the  "  Juvenile  Association,"  —  a  society 
of  men  assembling  in  the  heart  of  the  native  town,  at  the  premises 
of  the  late  Ashootos  Deb,  a  wealthy  patron  of  idolatry,  hook- 
swinging  festivals,  etc.  Subject,  "  The  Life  of  Woman  in  America 
and  in  Bengal."  Attendance  about  one  hundred.  A  useful  dis- 
cussion followed,  on  the  admission  of  European  ladies  to  teach  in 
the  zenanas  of  Bengali  families. 

May  23.  A  second  address  before  the  "  Philanthropic  Asso- 
ciation ; "  subject,  "  Female  Education."  A  temperance  essay 
was  also  read  by  a  native  gentleman,  a  Hindoo. 

June  7.  A  lecture  before  the  Heytoisheenee  Shova,  a  society 
of  men  united  for  moral  and  religious  purposes,  Hindoos.  Sub- 
ject, "  Religious  Instruction  of  the  Young  in  America." 

June  12.  A  lecture  before  the  Bethune  Society  (three  or  four 
hundred  present),  on  "  The  Temperance  Movement  in  Modern 
Times." 

June  ij.  A  lecture  (since  printed  for  circulation)  on  a  sub- 
ject assigned  by  the  Heytoisheenee  Shova.  The  testimony  of  the 
Rajah  Rammohun  Roy  in  favor  of  Christianity  was  made  inci- 
dental to  the  main  topic,  namely,  "  The  Danger  of  Education  with- 
out Religion."  Sixty  or  seventy  present.  A  sharp  discussion 


ensued  concerning  Rammohun  Roy  and  the  character  and  claims 
of  Jesus  Christ,  resulting  in  a  decision  that,  willing  as  they  were 
to  hear,  they  could  not,  as  a  society,  indorse  the  lecture.  Being 
none  of  them  Christians,  they  could  not  so  advocate  the  cause  of 
Jesus.  The  lecture  nevertheless  obtained  a  circulation  of  twelve 
hundred  copies  in  the  Englishman,  and  thence  three  hundred 
copies  were  struck  off  gratuitously  for  distribution  in  pamphlet 
form. 

5.  The  School  of  Industrial  Art  having  been  found  to 
absorb  more  of  the  Missionary's  time  than  he  felt  able  to  spare 
from  other  engagements  more  directly  religious,  he  resigned  his 
position  as  its  Honorary  Secretary  on  the  i4th  of  March  last, 
and  has  contented  himself  with  a  daily  visit  to  the  school,  at  an 
hour  of  the  morning  so  early  as  not  to  interfere  with  other  work. 
He  has  in  this  way  kept  up  his  sympathy  with  the  pupils,  some  of 
whom  have  continued,  since  August  last,  to  come  to  him  privately 
for  religious  instruction,  either  on  week-days  or  Sundays,  or 
on  both. 

Thus,  with  regard  to  schooling  and  week-day  instruction,  it 
will  appear  that  there  is  abundant  material  for  schools,  which  may 
be  opened  as  soon  as  the  means  are  supplied,  and  an  efficient 
teacher  sent  out ;  that  the  "  Training  School "  at  Bali  is  heartily 
connected  with  our  Mission,  and  under  a  more  decidedly  Christian 
influence  than  many  schools  professedly  connected  with  missions 
in  India.  They  all  employ,  in  part,  heathen  teachers,  while  this 
school  has  five  Unitarian  Christians  as  its  sole  instructors,  includ- 
ing the  Girls'  School,  in  charge  of  a  native  Christian  woman. 
Furthermore,  direct  instruction  of  a  large  circle  of  adult  pupils 
proceeds  from  day  to  day  at  the  residence  of  the  Missionary. 
Again,  eighteen  lectures  and  addresses,  partly  doctrinal  and  partly 
on  Christian  reforms,  have  been  given  on  week-days,  during  the 
twenty-six  weeks  of  the  past  half-year ;  and  eight  or  nine  of  these 
have  been  prepared  on  a  special  request,  coming  from  as  many 
different  bodies  of  men,  —  natives,  and  nearly  all  heathen.  Thus, 
including  the  forty  or  more  pupils  of  the  Art  School,  the  Mission- 
ary has  been  placed  in  daily  contact  and  sympathy  with  about 
fifty  men.  It  will  be  seen  by  these  facts  how  far  the  desire  to 
have  a  school  connected  with  the  Mission  has,  in  the  absence  of 
the  required  funds,  been  responded  to. 


III.     THE  CIRCULATION  OF  UNITARIAN  BOOKS  AND  TRACTS. 

This  was  the  third  declared  object  of  the  Mission.  About 
eight  hundred  tracts  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  volumes  of  books, 
large  and  small,  were  brought  out  by  the  Missionary,  and  were 
nearly  all  disposed  of  before  the  arrival  of  the  larger  supply  that 
has  just  come  to  hand.  They  included  the  works  of  Channing, 
the  two  Wares,  Norton,  Dewey,  Worcester,  Peabody,  Burnap, 
Eliot,  Sears,  Miles,  Bartol,  Clarke,  Livermore,  and  others. 

1.  These  have  been  mainly  absorbed  in  Calcutta,  notwith- 
standing a  strenuous  endeavor  on   the  part  of   clergymen  of  all 
denominations  to  prevent  their  being  read.     Of  the  known  dealers 
in  books  here,  not  one  will  advertise  Unitarian  works,  for  fear  of 
the  immediate  loss  of  custom  that  would  ensue.     Our  books  are, 
however,  permitted  a  place  upon    the    counters  of   three  of   the 
more   prominent  booksellers  of   the  city.      The   Missionary  has 
usually  fixed  the  American  price  upon  the  books ;  though,  when 
it  appeared  that  most  of  those  who  asked  for  them  were  natives, 
and  poor  men,  he  felt  justified  in  reducing  even  that  low  charge, 
or  in    relinquishing  it  altogether.       Notwithstanding  this,  about 
eighty  dollars  have  been  realized  on  the  sale  of  the  first  lot  of 
books  and  tracts  (the  total  cost  of  which  was  one  hundred  dol- 
lars), and  passed  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Calcutta  Society. 

2.  Besides  the  circulation  of  books  and  tracts  in   Calcutta, 
(and  nearly  every  caller  takes  away  one  or  more  tracts  with  him), 
we  have  sent  them  to  distant  cities ;  namely,  to  Madras,  to  Mel- 
bourne (Australia),  to  Burdwan,  to  Jessore,  to  Peshawur,  to  Ran- 
goon, to  Lahore,  —  not   to  mention  the  villages  in  our  suburbs, 
such  as  Bali,  Bhowaneepore,  Zerate,  Kidderpore,  Seebpore,  etc. 

3.  The  Correspondence  of  the  Mission  has  reached  other  cities 
besides  the  places  just  enumerated  ;  and  among  these  cities,  wherein 
one  or  more  Unitarians  have  already  declared  themselves,  may  be 
enumerated  :  Nainee  Tal  (in  the  Himalayas)  ;  Poonah,  near  Bom- 
bay; Tellicherry,  in  Southern  India;  Mooltan,  in  the  far  north- 
west ;  and  Darjeeling,  in  the  north.     In  all  these  places,  during 
this  first  year  of  our  work,  have  friends  of  Unitarian  Christianity 
appeared,  who  seem  ready  to  cooperate  more  or  less  largely  in  the 
distribution  of  our  books  and  tracts.     The  entire  labors  of  one 
man,  of  generous  heart  and  cultivated  intellect,  might  be  profitably 


53 

expended  in  this  single  department  of  the  Mission.  What  might 
not  such  a  man  accomplish,  aided  by  a  mail  which  bears  a  letter 
to  any  part  of  India,  two  thousand  miles,  for  a  penny  ?  and  by  the 
cheap  book-post,  which  will  carry  four  or  five  common-sized  books 
the  same  distance  for  fourpence.  These  agencies  of  a  generous 
government  are  constantly  perverted  to  the  wide  circulation  of 
the  vilest  infidel  attacks  upon  Christianity ;  nor  is  there  a  work 
of  this  sort  printed  in  any  part  of  the  world  but  speedily  finds  its 
way  to  Calcutta,  and  thence  to  the  million  homes  of  this  awakened 
and  reading  people.  Such  works  are  frequently  brought  in  for 
examination  and  refutation.  Among  them  are  Paine's  "  Age  of 
Reason,"  "  What  is  Truth  ?  "  and  several  pamphlets  written  by 
Hindoo  readers  of  Strauss,  Volney,  Hennel,  and  others.  Some 
of  them  do  not  hesitate  to  attack  Jesus  Christ,  not  only  as  "an 
impostor,"  but  as  a  person  of  impure  moral  character.  Such 
books,  in  English  and  in  Bengali,  are  scattered  by  thousands  all 
over  the  country ;  and  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  our  Unitarian 
books  and  tracts  would  be  read  quite  as  largely,  and  with  how 
different  a  result !  Surely  here  is  a  call  of  God  1 

4.  Several   Anonymous    Writers    are    defending    Unitarian 
doctrines  in  the  newspapers,  from  time  to  time,  in  open  contro- 
versy with  vigorous  opponents.     Such  a  discussion,  extending  to 
a  dozen  letters  or  more,  was  lately  conducted  in  part  by  an  aged 
member  of  our  own  congregation,  once  a  Baptist  Missionary,  and 
a  member  of  the  Unitarian  Society  of  Calcutta  in  1829,  an  Eura- 
sian.    There  also  appeared  in  the  Calcutta  Citizen  of  the   i2th, 
1 3th,  and  i4th  of  January  last,  letters  in  favor  of  our  Mission 
from  three  different  writers.     So  we  perceive,  not  without  thanks- 
giving to  the  All-Father,  that  the  word  of  God  is  not  bound.     In- 
deed, there  is  not  an  English  newspaper  in  the  city  that  has  not 
lifted  its  voice  against  a  theological  hatred  that  has  cast  out  our 
work  and  our  name  as  evil. 

5.  A  Circulating  Library  was  made  of  such  Unitarian  works 
as  remained  unsold,  and  from  January  to  July,  1856,  more  than 
fifty  persons  have  been  reading  and  returning  the  New  Testament, 
Channing,  Ware,  Eliot,  Norton,  Burnap,  Clarke,  Bartol,  Miles,  and 
other  Unitarian  works. 

6.  The  College  and  City  Libraries  of  Calcutta  have  sent  us 
their  letters  of  thanks  for  copies  of  the  works  just  mentioned,  in 


54 

whole  or  in  part;  and  as  larger  supplies  of  Channing,  etc.,  are 
sent  out  to  us,  numerous  other  institutions  will  be  glad  to  receive 
them,  and  put  them  within  the  reach  of  their  students.  In  the 
principal  college  in  India  —  "  Presidency  College,  Calcutta  "  (soon 
to  become  "  The  University  ")  —  there  are  two  or  three  sets  of 
Channing's  Works,  and  yet  the  students  say  that  "  they  are  always 
out."  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  first  of  two  notes  received 
from  the  President  of  that  institution  :  — 

"  My  dear  Sir,  —  Accept  my  best  thanks  for  the  complete  set 
of  Channing's  Works  which  you  have  kindly  presented  to  the 
Library  of  the  Presidency  College.  I  have  placed  the  books  on 
our  library  shelves,  and  students  of  the  institution  will  have  free 
access  to  them. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

"  J.  SUTCLIFFE, 

"  Principal  Presidency  College. 
"  October  26th,  1855." 

The  second  note  is  to  the  same  effect,  acknowledging  the 
receipt  of  four  other  works;  and  is  dated  June  21,  1856. 

7.  Classes  of  Young  Men  have  been  formed,  once  and  again, 
and  commenced  regular  courses  of  reading  at  my  room,  to  the 
number  of  ten  or  twelve ;  but  either  from  the  difficulties  of  the 
climate  or  from  the  instability  characteristic  of    Bengalees,  they 
have  not  continued  for  many  weeks.     Only  the  Bible  class,  formed 
in  September,  1855,  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  having 
been  latterly  incorporated  with  the  Sunday  school. 

8.  Finally,  our  own  Publications  have  gone  forth,  limited  by 
our  limited  means.      Each  issue  of  the  press,  in  fact,  has  been 
paid  for  by  a  special    subscription  among   our  few  subscribers, 
already  pretty  heavily  taxed  for  current  expenses,     i.  One  native 
gentleman  who  is  with  us  and  calls  himself  a  Christian,  Baboo 
Hurchunder  Dutt,  Actuary  of  the  Government  Savings  Bank,  has 
printed  and  circulated,  wholly  at  his  own  charge,  a  neat  pamphlet 
of  Original  Hymns,  which,  being  his  gift,  have  been  occasionally 
used  in  our  Sunday  service.     One  half  of  these  hymns  were  com- 
posed by  himself.     2.  We  have  succeeded,  with  the  powerful  aid 
of  the  Englishman  newspaper  press,  in  printing  and  widely  cir- 
culating ten  different  tracts  during  the  half-year.     They  treat  on 
a  range  of   topics  not   unlike  those  contained  in  several  of   the 


55 

doctrinal  volumes  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association ;  being 
entitled  as  follows  :  — 

(1)  Unitarianism  and  its  Progress  in  America. 

(2)  Christian  Liberty,  Assent  and  Dissent. 

(3)  A  Unitarian  View  of  Christ. 

(4)  The  Divine  Unity  absolute. 

(5)  The  Holy  Ghost,  God's  Power  and  Love. 

(6)  The  Atonement,  the  Prodigal's  Return. 

(7)  The  Simplicity  and  Catholicity  of  the  Creed  of  Christ. 

(8)  Human  Brotherhood,  the  True  Church. 

(9)  Sin  —  Voluntary,  never  inherited. 

(10)    Christ  our  Lord,  God's  Image  and  Fullness  in  Man. 

About  twelve  hundred  copies  of  each  of  these  ten  tracts  or 
"  Lectures "  were  scattered  over  India  in  the  columns  of  the 
Saturday  Evening  Englishman.  Twenty-five  copies  of  each  were 
struck  off  for,  and  distributed  by,  the  Missionary  himself,  chiefly 
to  distant  inquirers.  And  two  hundred  copies  of  each  were  then 
printed  in  pamphlet  form,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  which  were 
bound,  making  a  book  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  closely 
printed  pages,  which  has  been  partly  given  away  and  partly 
offered  for  sale.  The  printer's  charge  of  one  hundred  and  eight 
rupees  was  met  by  subscription,  and  the  remaining  charges,  for 
binding,  etc.,  covered  by  the  sale  of  a  few  copies.  If  anything 
should  remain  after  paying  all  expenses,  the  income  will  be  passed 
to  the  Publication  Fund  of  the  Mission,  a  fund  which  as  yet  exists 
but  in  name.  We  have  thus  been  able  to  print,  and  to  a  large 
extent  to  circulate,  tracts  wholly  our  own,  to  the  number  of  four- 
teen thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty,  during  the  six  months,  ex- 
clusive of  the  tracts  sent  from  America  and  England ;  we  are  thus 
able  to  announce  that  the  Unitarian  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  India  has  issued  two  hundred  and  twenty  thou- 
sand pages  of  its  own  during  the  second  half-year  of  its  existence. 
This  stands  as  one  among  its  causes  of  thanksgiving  to  the  Giver 
of  all  good. 

IV.     To  EXPLORE  THE  NEEDS  OF  DIFFERENT  PLACES, 

At  a  distance  from  Calcutta,  was  the  fourth  object  proposed  by 
the  originators  of  this  Mission.  This  has  been  accomplished  to 
the  extent  of  the  means  supplied.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind,  that 


56 

to  make  a  tour  of  British  India,  and  to  "  explore  its  remoter 
places,"  is  to  accomplish  the  exploration  of  a  country  "  as  large  as 
all  Europe,  Russia  excepted."  It  is  also  to  journey  where  the 
common  means  of  journeying  as  yet  are  not  found.  Post-roads 
and  public  conveyances  do  not  exist,  except  to  a  very  limited 
extent ;  and  instead  of  the  usual  American  charge  of  from  three 
to  six  cents  a  mile,  eight  annas,  or  twenty-five  cents,  is  the  regular 
allowance.  This,  too,  must  be  done  for  the  most  part  in  a  palan- 
quin, on  the  backs  of  men  whose  average  speed  will  not  reach 
three  miles  an  hour.  Before,  therefore,  the  task  of  "  exploring 
remoter  places  "  is  laid  out,  it  will  be  needful  to  count  the  cost 
and  to  supply  the  means.  The  only  exploration  possible  to  us, 
in  the  present  state  of  our  affairs,  must  be  through  the  book  or 
Banghy  post  and  the  letter  mail.  Friends  are  being  raised  up  to 
us  from  the  extreme  north  to  almost  the  extreme  south  of  India, 
as  well  as  in  cities  to  the  far  east  and  west  of  Calcutta.  The 
extent  of  the  correspondence  that  invites  us  has  been  told  already. 
We  will  therefore  only  remark  further  under  this  head,  that  the 
Missionary  has  not  journeyed  more  than  seventy  miles  from  his 
post,  though  letters  and  tracts,  etc.,  have  gone  out  to  a  dozen 
different  cities. 

V.     HINDOO  UNITARIANS  OR  VEDANTISTS 

Were  to  be  made  the  subjects  of  special  effort  and  influence  on 
the  part  of  the  Missionary.  The  existence  of  twelve  or  more 
societies  of  these  heathen  Unitarian  brethren  has  been  reported 
to  him.  The  name  which  they  take  is  not  that  of  Vedantists : 
they  prefer  to  be  called  Bramas,  i.e.,  believers  in  God ;  a  name 
emphatically  distinguished  from  that  of  Bramins,  who  are,  almost 
without  exception,  polytheists,  and  the  administrators  of  idolatry. 
The  Bramas,  on  the  other  hand,  are  solemnly  pledged  to  maintain 
the  absolute  unity  and  pure  spirituality  of  the  Divine  Being.  They 
have  a  very  simple  form  of  initiation.  It  consists  of  the  reading 
and  signing  of  a  paper  declaratory  of  their  principles. 

i.  They  have  a  regular  weekly  meeting ;  that  of  the  principal 
Society  or  Sumaj  (the  Calcutta  one)  being  on  Wednesday  nights, 
in  a  well-lighted  hall,  where  two  or  three  hundred  usually  assemble. 
No  discussion  is  invited  or  allowed  in  the  place  of  worship,  where 
the  service  consists  of  reading  selections  of  Unitarian  sentences 


57 

picked  out  of  the  Veds ;  the  chanting  a  few  of  the  same  by  a  por- 
tion of  the  congregation ;  and  once  in  two  months  or  so,  hearing 
an  original  discourse  from  the  leader,  Baboo  Debendro  Nath 
Tagore,  or  from  some  man  of  his  selection  ;  and  concluding  always 
with  a  solo  hymn,  one  of  Rammohun  Roy's  seventy  Selected 
Hymns,  sung  by  a  hired  singer  in  the  peculiar  Oriental  style, 
accompanied  with  the  sound  of  drums,  cithars,  and  one  or  two 
other  Bengali  instruments  of  music.  Twenty-three  societies  of 
Bramas  have  arisen  since  1830,  ten  or  twelve  of  which  still  con- 
tinue. Great  credit  is  due  to  the  leader  of  the  Calcutta  Somaj 
for  his  zeal  and  spirit  of  propagandism.  The  step  out  of  idolatry 
into  monotheism,  which  he  has  caused  so  many  to  take  in  the 
different  cities  that  he  has  visited  for  the  purpose,  is  a  great  step. 
Few  natives  of  Bengal  are  found  as  zealous  as  he  in  the  cause 
of  religious  truth.  Still,  one  cannot  but  lament  that  there  exists 
a  marked  inconsistency  in  the  eclecticism  of  such  a  man  ;  who, 
much  as  he  professes  to  honor  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  will  never  allow 
the  whisper  of  his  name  in  the  public  services,  much  less  the 
reading  to  the  Somaj  of  Christ's  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  or  of  any 
other  discourse  out  of  the  New  Testament,  with  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  its  source.  Whatever  Rammohun  Roy  said  of  Christ  as 
his  "  Saviour  and  Lord  "  is  regarded  as  the  weakness  and  error 
of  their  great  founder,  and  the  endeavor  seems  to  be  that  it  shall, 
as  soon  as  possible,  pass  away  and  be  forgotten.  Our  duty  as 
Unitarian  Christians  most  clearly  is,  to  see  that  it  not  only  shall 
not  be  forgotten,  but  that  it  be  brought  fully  to  the  light.  In  fact, 
a  secession  from  the  Bramas  is  already  begun  in  the  direction 
of  Christianity.  Of  this  we  hope  to  say  more  at  another  time, 
when  they  will  have  begun,  if  their  purpose  holds  good,  to  prove 
their  faith  in  the  publication  of  the  writings  of  Rammohun  Roy. 
This  principal  assembly  of  our  Vedantist  brethren,  held  in  the 
heart  of  the  native  town  of  Calcutta,  has  been  visited  by  the  Mis- 
sionary many  times ;  though  less  frequently  of  late,  since  he 
understood  from  their  courteous  leader  that  he  rather  disapproved 
of  discussion  or  conversation  there,  and  preferred  that  he  should 
distribute  no  more  tracts  —  however  eagerly  asked  for  by  the 
younger  disciples  —  within  the  place  of  their  worship.  Our 
brother  seems  to  be  in  a  strait  between  two  courses  of  action. 
Resolved  utterly  to  exclude  the  name  of  Jesus,  "  because  he  is 


58 

called  God,"  he  sees  that  it  may  prove  as  disastrous  to  attempt 
to  forbid  as  to  invite  a  discussion  of  his  claims.  The  present 
policy  seems  to  be  to  shut  the  door  and  be  still.  But  his  young 
men  have  gone  too  far  not  to  go  farther.  Secession,  as  we  said, 
has  already  begun. 

2.  The  Brama   Somaj  at    Kidderpore  has  ceased   to  exist 
since,  toward  the  close  of  the  year  1855,  a  dozen  or  twenty  (being 
a  majority)  of  its  members  listened  to  a  two  months'  course  of 
lectures  on  Unitarian  Christianity. 

3.  The  Missionary  has  also  repeatedly  visited   the   Brama 
Somaj    at    Bhowaneepore,  where  forty  or  fifty  young  men   have 
built  themselves  a  neat  chapel,  and,  with  a  most   praiseworthy 
zeal,  continue  their  weekly  service  of  reading,  prayer,  and  essays, 
on  Monday  evenings. 

4.  His  Highness  the  Maha  Rajah,  of  Burdwan,  a  generous 
patron  of  all  forms  of  religion,  holds  the  leader  of  the  Vedantists 
in  very  high  esteem,  and  has  "  built  him  a  synagogue."     In  that 
synagogue,  or  Brama  Somaj  chapel,  your  Missionary  has  preached, 
more  than  once,  concerning  Jesus  and  the  Bible,  and  is  invited  to 
come  often  for  that  purpose.     When  there,  the  Bramas,  of  course, 
form  part  of  his  congregation.     Thus  his  steps  have  been  directed 
into  the  midst  of  his  Hindoo  Unitarian  brethren,  at  their  points 
of  assembling  in  Calcutta,  at  Kidderpore,  at  Bhowaneepore,  and 
at  Burdwan ;  while,  by  the  circulation  of  religious  lectures  through 
the  press  and  the  newspapers,  he  has  been  able  to  reach  some 
whom  he  has  not  yet  conversed  with,  but  who  have  written  to  him 
for  books,  etc.,  as  in  the  case  of  Naineetal. 

5.  A  List  of  all  the    Vedantic  Societies ;  as  furnished  by  a 
former  member  of   that   body,  now  calling  himself   a  Unitarian 
Christian,  is  as  follows :    of   the  twenty-four  that   have  taken   a 
formal  existence  since  the  time  of  Rammohun  Roy,  the  following 
ten  or  twelve  still   hold    service,  with  more   or   less  regularity ; 
namely,  the  Calcutta  Brama  Somaj,  founded  (1830)  by  the  Rajah 
Rammohun  Roy,  and  since  sustained  by  Baboo  Debendro  Nath 
Tagore ;    and   the    "  Somajes "    at    Burdwan,   Dacca,  Midnapore, 
Calna,  Bhowaneepore,  Krishnaghur,  Baraset,  Teleeneeparah,  Co- 
merkholly,  Tipperah,  and  Rungpore.     Nearly  all  these  have  had 
different  founders,  whose  names  are  not  here  given,  but  are  with 
us  for  reference.     They  are  none  of   them  believed    to  be  very 


59 

numerous,  counting  probably  an  average  of  not  over  twenty  or 
thirty  members. 

VI.     MADRAS  AND  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  ROBERTS 

Were  to  be  visited,  if  possible,  according  to  instructions ;  and 
several  other  places  in  Southern  India.  It  is  well  known  how 
the  uprising  of  the  Calcutta  Church  (not  to  mention  the  unpro- 
vided cost  of  such  extensive  journeys)  prevented  the  visitation 
"  of  Madras,  Secunderabad,  Salem,  and  other  places,"  beyond  all 
doubt  "  open  to  the  simple  Gospel  of  Christ."  That  "warm  sym- 
pathy "  which  was  to  be  extended  to  the  Rev.  William  Roberts  — 
though  impossible  to  be  expressed,  under  the  circumstances,  by 
the  actual  grasp  of  hands  —  has  been  expressed,  so  far  as  pen 
and  ink,  and  the  repeated  transmission  of  papers,  tracts,  and 
books,  and  a  regular  correspondence,  might  give  it  expression. 
Copies  of  twenty-four  different  Unitarian  works,  including  Sunday- 
school  manuals,  were  sent  by  a  friend,  Lieutenant  Cardale,  to  Rev. 
William  Roberts,  as  early  as  August,  1855.  In  December,  an 
additional  supply  was  forwarded  by  book  post,  and  Mr.  Roberts 
advised  to  place  the  income  of  any  of  them  that  he  should  choose 
to  sell  to  account  of  his  own  book  and  tract  department.  In  the 
month  of  February,  1856,  books  and  tracts  were  again  sent  by 
mail,  postpaid ;  and  again  another  supply  of  half  a  dozen  books 
and  two  or  three  dozen  selected  tracts  were  sent  in  June.  We 
have  also  received  from  Madras  a  few  pamphlets  and  tracts,  that 
have  been  eagerly  read  among  us.  Extracts  from  letters  of  Mr. 
Roberts  have  been  laid  before  our  congregation,  and  our  word  of 
fellowship  has  come  before  his  people.  Letters  are  regularly 
passing  from  month  to  month  between  the  Madras  and  the  Cal- 
cutta missionary,  and  mutual  reports  of  progress  are  frequently 
made.  To  this  extent,  if  no  further,  is  the  purpose  fulfilled,  that 
"  our  warmest  sympathies  should  be  extended  to  the  Rev.  William 
Roberts  and  his  faithful  people,  and  his  schools." 

VII.     THE  MAHOMETANS,  AT  MADRAS  AND  ELSEWHERE, 

Were  to  be  remembered  by  us.  A  few  books  have  been  sent  to 
the  Mahometans  of  Madras,  and  a  correspondence  by  post  solic- 
ited, though  as  yet  no  letter  has  been  received  from  them.  All 
that  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  thus  far  is  an  acknowledgment 


6o 

of  the  receipt  of  our  books,  and  the  promise  of  a  letter.  Mean- 
time our  mission  has  attracted  the  favorable  attention  of  several 
leading  men  of  this  form  of  faith  in  Calcutta  and  elsewhere  in 
Bengal.  A  few  of  them  have  read  our  publications,  and  expressed 
in  private  a  hearty  consent  and  sympathy  with  us.  The  Mahom- 
etans of  Bengal,  until  quite  lately,  appear  to  have  been  sunk  in 
apathy,  and  to  have  refused  everything  English,  even  that  knowl- 
edge of  our  language  which  the  Hindoos  everywhere  are  so  eager 
to  acquire.  A  change  is  now  coming  over  them,  and  they  begin 
to  talk  of  moral  progress.  The  Gospel  of  Jesus,  they  say,  gives 
the  love  of  God  to  children,  as  the  Koran  does  not.  The  offer 
has  even  been  made  to  publish,  at  their  own  expense,  a  book  of 
simple  prayers  for  children,  in  Oordoo,  Persian,  and  Bengali. 
Our  "  Matins  and  Vespers "  and  Sunday  School  Service-Book, 
containing  prayers  for  the  young,  have  been  placed  in  their 

hands. 

VIII.     To  Fix  His  RESIDENCE 

Stands  recorded  among  the  instructions  received  by  the  Mission- 
ary. At  the  most  favorable  point  for  labor,  he  must  "  give  him- 
self to  a  life  of  usefulness  as  a  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; " 
preaching  to  all  the  Gospel  of  God  the  Father,  the  only  God ;  and 
not  failing  to  enter,  as  far  as  permitted,  into  the  most  friendly 
relations  with  all  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  circumstances 
and  providential  direction  which  have  fixed  his  home  in  Calcutta 
are  known  to  all  our  friends.  The  formation  of  a  Society  of 
English  and  American  Unitarians  —  with  several  eminent  Hin- 
doos, attending  and  contributing  to  the  expenses  of  a  place  of 
worship  —  occurred  on  the  8th  of  July,  1855,  the  Missionary 
having  landed  on  the  i8th  of  June,  three  weeks  previous.  That 
Society  has  more  than  held  its  own,  the  chief  increase  being  of 
native  young  men.  Several  native  Christians  are  also  with  us, 
some  of  whom  are  teachers  and  preachers  of  Unitarian  Christian- 
ity. The  life  and  growth  of  the  Society  that  gathers  to  these 
services  week  by  week  is  absolutely  dependent  on  the  continued 
presence  of  a  European  or  American  Missionary.  The  decision 
of  friends  here  and  at  home  has  therefore  been  unanimous,  and 
instructions  have  been  sent  out  by  the  American  Unitarian  Asso- 
ciation, that  the  point  of  labor  for  their  first  Missionary  —  where, 
for  the  present,  at  least,  "  he  is  to  give  himself  to  a  life  of  useful- 


6i 

ness  "  —  is  Calcutta.  Concerning  this  arrangement  the  Secretary 
of  the  American  Unitarian  Association  writes  as  follows  :  "  The 
Committee  direct  me  to  say,  that  they  defer  to  you  in  your  wish 
to  remain  in  Calcutta.  As  you  state  the  case,  it  seems  clearly 
your  duty  to  stay  there,  and  do  all  in  your  power  to  foster  the 
newly-formed  Society.  For  Madras,  Salem,  and  other  places,  we 
must  look  out  for  some  other  man  ;  and  we  are  not  without  hopes 
that  we  may  find  a  suitable  person."  The  Missionary  is  therefore 
fixed  and  settled  at  Calcutta. 

With  respect  to  fellow-feeling  and  cooperation  with  other  de- 
nominations of  Christians,  the  Missionary  has  done  what  in  him 
lay  to  walk  peaceably,  in  Christian  faith  and  fellowship  with  those 
around  him.  This  spirit  of  good-will  has  already  begun  to  bear 
its  proper  fruit.  Some  brethren  who  felt  at  first  obliged  to 
declare  and  publish  to  the  world,  that  the  "  presence  "  of  a  Unita- 
rian among  them  was  "  an  unwarrantable  intrusion,"  and  who  had 
"  to  wish  him  no  manner  of  success  in  India,"  have  begun  to 
change  their  first  impressions ;  and  more  than  one  has  already 
asked  for  printed  discourses  of  the  Missionary. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  proper,  for  the  establishing  the 
hearts  of  our  own  Calcutta  Society,  to  quote  a  few  words  from  a 
letter  of  the  Secretary  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association, 
who  says,  under  date  of  March  27,  1856:  "I  can  speak  with 
great  confidence  of  the  very  favorable  impression  which  the  India 
Mission  has  made  upon  the  public  mind.  We  mean  to  sustain  it, 
and  confidently  look  for  enlarged  usefulness.  Your  great  activity 
in  writing,  lecturing,  preaching,  visiting,  as  also  the  unfailing 
good  Christian  temper  all  your  articles  breathe,  must  tell  finally 
in  your  favor  in  Calcutta."  It  is  a  cause  of  gratitude  to  God, 
that  this  prophecy  from  our  American  friends  and  supporters  has 
already  begun  to  be  fulfilled. 

IX.     To  WRITE  HOME  OF  His  WORK  IN  INDIA 

Was  a  final  charge,  as  also  concerning  what  others  were  doing  for 
its  religious  and  moral  welfare.  A  brief  enumeration  of  his  regu- 
lar labors  in  this  respect  must  close  the  present  Report. 

i.  Not  a  mail  has  left  India  for  America  since  the  Mission- 
ary entered  the  mouth  of  the  Hooghly,  that  has  not  borne  a  letter 
from  him  to  the  Secretary  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association. 


62 

Letters  from  native  gentlemen,  whether  as  individuals  or  societies, 
asking  that  the  Mission  be  sustained  and  enlarged,  have  been 
enclosed  with  these,  or  sent  independently  of  them ;  and  the  suc- 
cesses, trials,  and  hopes  of  the  enterprise  have  thus  been  "  estab- 
lished "  in  trie  mouth  of  many  witnesses. 

2.  Besides    letters,  books  have    also   been    sent   by  ship  to 
friends  at  home,  which  contained  the  best  reports  of  the  various 
Protestant  Missions  in  Northern  India.     There  are  seldom  less 
than  forty  American  ships  anchored  at  Calcutta,  "  the  fourth  com- 
mercial city  in  the  world ; "    and   the    coming  and    departing  of 
large  vessels,  chiefly  English  and  American,  to  the  average  num- 
ber of  one  hundred  a  month,  give  us  facilities  of  communication 
with  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  that  contribute  not  a 
little  to  our  prospects  of  extended  usefulness. 

3.  The  five  daily  newspapers  of  Calcutta  have  been  regu- 
larly received  by  the  Missionary  in  return  for  his  occasional  con- 
tributions to  them.     The  writing  of  such  articles,  not  to  mention 
five  hundred  notes  and  letters,  or  an  average  of  five  daily,  con- 
sumes   much   valuable   time ;    but   the    newspaper   articles    have 
attracted    favorable    attention    towards   the  Mission.     There  lies 
thus  on  his  hands,  without  cost  of    money,  that  for  which  sub- 
scribers are  paying  a  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  a  year.     So  it 
seemed  best  to  put  these  newspapers  into  the  hands  of  friends 
and  of  the  ministers  of  the  Unitarian  faith  in  America,  in  Eng- 
land, and  elsewhere,  even  at  an  annual  cost  for  postage  of  forty 
or  fifty  dollars ;  especially  as  prepayment  of  postage  to  America, 
on  all  mailable  matter  except  newspapers,  is  forbidden.     By  the 
newspapers  of  this  chief  city  in  India,  friends  on  the  other  side 
of  the  globe  may  thus,  with  little  or  no  cost  to  themselves,  be 
made  acquainted  with  the  state  of  feeling  here,  and  the  progress 
of  internal  improvements,  of  social    reforms,  and    of   missionary 
conflict  and  success,  throughout  the  entire  country ;  and,  in  fact, 
through  all  the  continent  of  Asia.     Thus,  at  some  expense  of  time 
and  labor,  the  Missionary  has  been  able  to  despatch,  postpaid,  to 
two  hundred  different  persons,  a  semi-monthly  average  of  seventy 
Indian  newspapers,  making  a  total  of  eight  hundred  and  forty  for 
the  six  months.     He  can   conceive  of   no  readier  way  in  which 
friends  at  a  distance  may  be  enabled  to  form  an  enlightened  and 
impartial   estimate   of   the   work   that   believers    in    a    Universal 


63 

Father  ought  to  be  doing  in  Asia ;  and  to  know,  by  their  own 
examination  of  testimony,  what  are  the  wisest  methods  of  accom- 
plishing it.  This  plan  was  commenced  at  the  opening  of  the 
Mission,  and,  if  agreeable  to  our  friends,  may  be  indefinitely 
continued.  It  may  be  added,  that  one  of  these  papers  openly 
defends  our  Mission,  as  "  a  new  and  unique  attempt  to  place 
Christianity  before  the  native  mind,"  rebutting  attacks  on  us  with 
that  plea.  The  country  papers  also  favorably  mention  from  time 
to  time  the  work  of  our  Mission,  and  its  publications. 

4.  An  hour  or  two  daily  is  given  by  the  Missionary  to  the 
study  of    Bengali,  a  hard    language,  but   necessary  to    a  Bengal 
Missionary.     This  and  the  Hindostanee  are  also  gained  by  daily 
conversation  in  either  tongue. 

5.  We   acknowledge   the   fact,  with   deep  gratitude  to  the 
Defender  of  all  such  as  work  with  Him  and  for  Him,  that  friends 
are  often  coming  and  returning  from  and  to  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States ;  and  that  these  are  our  living  epistles.     Mr.  Peter 
Durnan,  Librarian  of  the  Rev.  H.  W.  Crosskey's  church,  in  Glas- 
gow, Scotland,  came  to  us  in  November,  1855,  with  the  hope  of 
giving  all  the  time  he  could  spare  from  his  business  to  the  benefit 
of  his  fellowmen,  and  especially  to  our  Mission.     Once  a  Roman 
Catholic,  and  now  a  Unitarian,  on  deep  conviction,  he  came  in 
the  fullness  of  the  blessing  of  a  Gospel  spirit,  willing  to  spend  and 
be  spent  for  Christ.     After  struggling  for  a  few  months  with  the 
adverse  influences  of  the  climate,  he  was  unable  to  walk  or  stand ; 
and  not  without  tears,  and  a  struggle  of  mind  over  which  faith 
finally  triumphed,  did  he  suffer  himself  to  be  carried  on  shipboard 
and  back  to  Scotland.     Often  in  our  Mission  Room,  when  ill  and 
suffering,  he  goes  home  to  testify  of  the  worth  of  what  he  has 
seen  and  known  among  us. 

6.  So,  not  to  mention  others,  there  came  to  us  from  New 
England  in  January  last,  and  left  us  on  the  igth  of  February,  in 
search  of  health,  a  dear  brother,  the  Rev.  Jared  Heard,  of  Way- 
land,  Massachusetts.     Sorry  were  we  that  we  could  not  persuade 
him    to  stay.     Though  not  able  to  preach,  he  conversed   freely 
with  such  as  remained  after  morning  service,  and  few  of  us  will 
forget  his  heartfelt  words,  especially  those  which  he  addressed  us 
on  the  power  of  prayer.     He  spent  one  day  examining  the  school 
at  Bali,  and  is  well  able  to  tell  our  New  England  friends  what 


64 

weight  to  give  to  the  letters  of  our  co-worker,  the  proprietor  of 
that  school.  Brother  Heard  has  also  conversed  with  the  young 
man,  Takoor  Das  Roy,  who  first  formally  applied  for  permission 
to  leave  all  and  come  to  Christ's  work,  through  the  instructions 
of  our  Theological  School  at  Meadville,  Pennsylvania. 

X.     A  FEW  GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

Claim  attention  at  the  close  of  this  Report. 

1.  The  Mission  has  become  more  distinctly  than  at  first  a 
mission  to  the  heathen.     Our  American  supporters  residing  here, 
without  ceasing  to  help  and   befriend   us  in  other  ways,  do  not 
attend,  as  at  first  they  did,  upon  our  Mission  services.     Though 
there  has  been  a  slight  increase  in  the  number  of  Europeans  and 
Americans  who  are  openly  with  us,  and  nearly  fifty  persons  have 
signed  their  names  (after  service  on  Sundays)  to  a  pledge  of  sym- 
pathy, the  Mission    is   becoming   less  and    less  a  movement  for 
white  men,  and  more  and  more  a  direct  conflict  of  Christianity 
with  Hindooism.     Though  we  have  an  assistance  from  foreigners, 
in  money  and  their  occasional  presence  (which  is  all-important  to 
our  cause),  our  appeal  is  now  made  definitely  and  distinctly  to 
Asiatic  and  heathen  ears  and  hearts. 

2.  We  have  seen  enough,  in  even  this  first  year's  acquaint- 
ance with  India  and  her  needs  and  longings,  to  indorse  fully  the 
opinion  of  the  present  Secretary  of  the  Madras  Unitarian  Associa- 
tion, Lieutenant  W.  R.  Johnson.     Dating  his  letter  "  Bangalore, 
January  15,   1856,"  Mr.  Johnson  remarks  (after  saying  that  his 
Association  "  has  little  existence  besides  its  name,"  and  that  "  the 
thing  required  in  Madras  is  some  educated    man  as  a  Mission- 
ary "  )  :  "  There  is  certainly  a  wider  field  in  India  than  elsewhere 
for  the  propagation  of  the  doctrines  we  hold ;  and,  from  frequent 
conversations  I  have  had  with  natives  of  all  castes  on  the  subject 
of  religion,  I  am  quite  certain  that  no  tenets  would  be  so  well 
received  as  ours,  especially  among  the  Mahometans." 

3.  If  the  printing  of  tracts  in  English  and  Bengali  is  to  go 
forward,  there  will  be  a  positive  need  of  funds  from  abroad  to 
meet  this  branch  of  our  expenses.     Every  tract  and  book  we  have 
issued,  thus  far,  has  been  paid  for   by  an  extra   call   upon    the 
limited  number  of  our  regular  subscribers.     An  unwillingness  to 
keep  repeating  this  call  has  brought  our  publication  of  tracts,  for 


65 

the  present,  almost  to  a  stand.  Besides  selections  from  our  best 
writers  in  English,  there  are  also  tracts  that  native  gentlemen 
have  turned  into  Bengali.  Of  some  of  these,  ten  rupees  (five 
dollars)  would  print  two  hundred  copies. 

4.  Though  an  open  profession  of  the  Cross  of  Christ  has, 
as  yet,  been  made  by  few  high-caste  men  or  really  leading  Hin- 
doos, the  principles  of  that  Cross  are  not  unfelt;  else  how  shall  we 
account  for  the  acquiescence  of  all  classes  in  the  abolition,  by 
Christian  law,  of  one  after  another  of  the  time-honored  barbarities 
of  Hindooism  ?  or  explain  the  eager  reading  of  books  on  the 
Christian  religion  by  heathen  young  men  ?  not  to  speak  again  of 
the  daily  coming  of  Hindoos  to  a  professedly  Christian  Mission- 
ary, and  asking  him  to  lecture  and  preach  to  them.  There  is  no 
reason  to  despair,  but  every  reason  to  hope ;  and  this  even  with- 
out the  command,  "  Go,  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature ;  " 
"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway."  The  words  of  one  of  the  ablest 
Oriental  journals,  The  Friend  of  India,  lately  uttered,  go  to  estab- 
lish this  conviction.  In  glancing  rapidly  over  the  last  one  hun- 
dred years,  the  precise  limit  of  British  rule  in  Asia,  its  editor, 
referring  to  the  memorable  massacre  of  the  English  at  the  Black 
Hole  of  Calcutta,  says :  "  From  that  day  forward,  so  unbroken 
has  been  the  course  of  British  conquest,  so  increasing  the  growth 
of  British  power  in  India,  that  those  events  have  passed,  not  only 
from  recollection,  but  almost  from  belief.  There  is  nothing  in  all 
history  to  compare  with  the  achievement.  Let  it  encourage  us  to 
the  tremendous  task  that  yet  remains  to  be  accomplished.  The 
century  of  conquest  may  be  considered  complete.  The  century 
of  civilization  has  hardly  begun.  While  we  recognize  the  vast 
work  that  is  accomplished,  we  must  admit  that  we  have  founded 
nothing.  We  have  established  no  one  institution  which  would 
endure  if  the  external  pressure  were  withdrawn.  We  have  con- 
quered the  bodies  of  this  great  population,  but  their  minds  are 
still  too  much  exempt  from  our  authority.  The  rhymed  sentences 
of  Saadi "  (Persian  Proverbs)  "  still  have  greater  influence  in 
India  than  all  the  philosophy  of  the  West.  We  have  passed  laws 
wiser  than  those  of  Menu,  but  we  have  implanted  no  theory  of 
sound  legislation ;  we  have  founded  colleges  by  the  dozen,  but 
the  people,  these  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  whom  we  talk 
so  much,  are,  with  few  exceptions,  as  barbarous  as  their  fore- 


66 

fathers.  We  have  created  a  judiciary,  free  at  least  from  corrup- 
tion, but  the  native  idea  of  justice  remains  unchanged.  We  have 
restrained  some  of  the  enormities  of  Hindooism,  but  no  new  faith 
has  been  given  the  people  to  replace  the  old.  We  have  fostered 
a  gigantic  trade,  but  there  is  not  one  sound  principle  of  commerce 
yet  rooted  in  the  native  mind.  The  task  remaining  to  be  accom- 
plished seems  almost  hopeless.  It  is  so,  to  cowards.  But  if  we 
bring  to  it  the  energy,  and  the  courage,  and  the  contempt  for  the 
impossible,  which  we  have  brought  to  our  military  task,  the  his- 
torian of  the  next  century  may  chronicle  a  result  as  magnificent 
as  that,  and  infinitely  more  enduring."  If  these  be  the  true  words 
of  a  politician,  what  ought  to  be  said  by  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

C.  H.  A.  BALL. 


MR.  DALL  died  on  the  i8th  of  July,  1886.     In  the  Boston 
Evening  Transcript  of  May  19,  1888,  I  find  the  following:  — 

"  A  correspondent  of  the  Inquirer  furnishes  us  with  some 
very  interesting  items  in  regard  to  Unitarian  work  in  India.  He 
pays  a  tribute  to  Rev.  C.  H.  Dall,  who  for  so  many  years  was  the 
devoted  friend  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association  of  this 
country.  The  writer  regrets  that  his  five  schools  will  be  closed 
in  August,  and  that  '  all  visible  trace  will  vanish  of  the  many 
years'  labor,  devoted  to  India's  welfare,  by  that  excellent  man.' 
We  must  also  express  our  profound  regret,  although  we  know 
that  the  magnetic  spirit  of  this  religious  leader  is  permeating 
today  all  the  Brahmo  Somajes  of  this  country,  and  has  left  its 
influence  in  a  thousand  ways  upon  the  daily  press  of  Calcutta. 
Those  four  little  letters  —  Dall ;  so  independent,  so  autocratic  — 
with  which  he  signed  his  communications  to  the  Indian  Mirror, 
always  carried  weight  with  the  English  as  well  as  native  people. 
The  correspondent  adds  that  the  head  master  and  head  mistress 
of  the  High  School  agreed  in  their  ardent  and  affectionate  eulogy 
of  his  admirable  qualities,  and  at  his  death  men  of  all  creeds  and 
nationalities  'testified  to  his  worth.  The  writer  wonders  how  it  is 
that  he  did  not  gather  any  settled  congregation.  Did  the  fault 
lie  in  his  religious  views  ?  He  says,  '  Decidedly  not.'  He  thinks 
the  reason  was  that  Mr.  Dall  'was  not  a  preacher.'  We  concede 
that  he  was  not  a  great  preacher,  but  if  he  had  been  so,  we  ques- 
tion whether  it  would  have  made  a  great  difference  as  to  his 
success.  He  might  have  had  a  hearing  among  educated  English 
people  of  Calcutta,  but  if  he  had  confined  his  work  to  preaching 
an  eloquent  sermon  once  a  week,  he  would  have  done  a  much 
narrower  work  than  he  accomplished,  not  merely  by  his  schools, 
but  by  the  cordial  way  in  which  he  came  into  sympathetic  contact 
with  educated  Hindoos,  Brahmins,  or  Buddhists,  and  brought 
them  to  a  sincere  study  and  appreciation  of  Christianity.  Every 
man  has  his  own  work.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  we  shall 
see  such  another  impassioned,  ardent  friend  of  the  Hindoo  race 
as  this  noble  missionary. 


68 

"  We  feel,  with  the  writer,  that  there  is  an  opening  in  Cal- 
cutta for  any  earnest  man  of  good  preaching  power ;  that  there  are 
Europeans  who  are  in  general  sympathy  with  religious  thought, 
while  hundreds  of  well  educated  natives,  having  passed  through 
their  training  under  Mr.  DalPs  influence,  have  feelings  of  respect 
and  attachment  towards  the  Unitarian  name  and  position.  We 
are  reminded  again  of  Mr.  Ball's  fine  character-drawing  of  these 
Hindoos,  so  delicate,  so  affectionate,  so  subtile  often  in  their  out- 
reachings  to  the  infinite  mind,  and  yet  so  wanting  in  any  will 
power  to  inaugurate  any  of  the  practical  movements  of  civiliza- 
tion. How  much  their  climate  has  to  do  with  this  we  cannot  tell, 
but  religious  people  are  fast  learning  that  if  these  Hindoos  accept 
Christianity,  they  must  do  it  in  their  own  fashion,  and  train  their 
own  leaders  to  suit  the  Eastern  mind. 

"  Mr.  Roberts  says  that  he  should  die  happy  if  an  English 
missionary  would  follow  Mr.  Dall,  and  that  in  an  adjoining  village 
there  were  already  sixty  natives  who  wished  to  be  baptized  and 
have  a  preacher.  We  call  these  facts  to  the  attention  of  Unitarian 
Christians.  These  movements  in  Madras  and  its  vicinity  are 
small,  but  not  to  be  despised,  because  they  have  native  leaders 
and  in  them  the  elements  of  self-support,  and  small  gifts  from 
individuals  would  give  them  great  encouragement.  The  preach- 
ing mission  in  Calcutta  will  require  a  fund  which  we  wish  some 
generous  person  might  see  it  in  his  way  to  furnish." 

The  visits  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  the  schools  of  Mr.  Ball's 
Mission,  in  1875  and  6,  opened  the  eyes  of  the  American  public 
to  the  work.  From  the  Indian  Mirror  of  August  22,  1876,  I 
copy  the  following :  — 

"  MR.    BALL'S    SCHOOLS    IN   CALCUTTA,   AND    THE    PRINCE    OF 

WALES'S   CHARITY. 

"  To  the  recipients  of  charity  in  Calcutta,  and  to  none  beside 
these,  was  the  gift  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  made  and  applied.  By 
far  the  larger  part  of  it,  or  say  Rs.  8,700  out  of  his  munificent 
Rs.  10,000,  was  given  to  well-known  public  charities,  particularly 
to  the  hospitals,  wherein  the  poor  are  entertained  and  healed,  or 
supplied  from  dispensaries  with  gratuitous  medicine.  The  re- 
mainder (about  Rs.  1,700)  was  given  to  special  charities  regarded 
as,  to  a  certain  extent,  public  benefactions.  It  is  well  known  that 


69 

our  friend,  Mr.  Dall,  has  five  schools  in  Calcutta,  in  three  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  city ;  and  it  is  at  his  request,  and  to  prevent  any 
possible  misunderstanding  in  future,  that  we  now  put  on  record 
what  he  received  and  how  he  applied  it.  He  is  conscientiously 
careful  that  no  rupee  of  it  should  go  to  any  sectarian  purpose,  nor 
to  any  service  not  fairly  regarded  as  a  simply  human  and  general 
charity.  This  element  was  justly  recognized  by  the  almoner  of 
the  gift  and  its  distributors  in  three  of  Mr.  Ball's  schools,  to  each 
of  which  came  a  donation  of  Rs.  250.  The  chief  almoner,  who 
is  known  to  be  a  tireless  visitor  of  all  our  city  institutions,  sent 
three  receipts  to  Mr.  Dall  without  his  having  made  any  previous 
application  for  the  money.  One  of  these  was  for  Rs.  250,  given 
in  aid  of  his  '  Rovers'  School '  in  Mussulman-parah,  near  Mirza- 
pore  Street,  in  Old  Bytakhana  Bazar  Road.  This  school  teaches 
knitting  and  bookbinding  to,  usually,  thirty  or  forty  out  of  up- 
wards of  a  hundred  boys,  who  get  also  a  plain  education  in  Ben- 
gali, and  no  English.  Since  it  was  opened,  more  than  ten  years 
ago,  it  has  had  in  training,  by  a  staff  of  five  or  six  teachers,  pupils 
numbering  seven  hundred  and  fourteen.  The  rule  is  that  no  one 
can  enter  this  school  who  has  more  than  two  rupees  a  month  to 
live  on ;  and  it  is  believed  that  one  full  meal  a  day  is  all  that 
these  poor  boys  obtain.  And  yet  so  successful  are  they  in  their 
studies  that  five  of  them  went  up,  some  time  ago,  to  an  examination 
for  entrance  to  the  Bengali  Medical  Class.  Half  a  dozen  are 
annually  promoted  as  beneficiary  pupils  to  Mr.  Ball's  upper  male 
school,  or  School  of  Useful  Arts.  Limited  orders  for  a  common 
sort  of  bookbinding  are  also  met,  from  time  to  time,  by  workers 
in  that  industry,  the  work  being  done  under  the  eye  of  their 
teacher,  Sultan.  The  simplest  principles  of  morals  and  the  love 
of  God  are,  of  course,  inculcated  daily  in  this  '  Rovers'  School ; ' 
but  none  can  doubt  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  would  approve  of 
the  giving  of  250  out  of  his  10,000  rupees  to  such  an  object. 

"  A  kindred  school  to  this,  for  not  exactly  street- roving,  but 
for  fatherless  and  morally  exposed,  poor  children  of  the  other  sex, 
is  Mr.  Ball's  so-called  '  Hayward  School,'  for  native  girls.  Here 
the  attendance  has  reached  fifty-two,  and  the  total  number  in 
charge  during  the  two  or  three  years  since  this  school  was  opened 
—  at  No.  92  Lower  Circular  Road  —  is  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
three.  Sewing  and  singing  of  hymns  by  rote  are  among  the  things 


7° 

taught  here.  No  English  is  attempted.  Benevolent  weekly  visit- 
ation is  secured,  and  English  oversight;  but  as  this  is  not  a 
boarding  but  a  day-school,  far  less  is  accomplished  for  these  poor 
girls  than  is  desired.  They  are  taught  to  think  and  feel  aright, 
and  what  is  done  is  a  pure  charity.  It  has  no  aid  except  from 
public  contributions  to  cover  its  current  cost  of  a  thousand  rupees 
a  year,  including  house-rent,  and  to  this  '  special '  charity  the 
Prince  of  Wales  has  given  Rs.  250. 

"  The  third  and  last  of  Mr.  Ball's  institutions  aided  by  the 
Prince  is  the  charity  branch  or  department  of  his  only  pay-school, 
the  '  School  of  Useful  Arts.'  All  the  regulars  in  this  school  pay 
a  monthly  fee,  the  Bengali  class  eight  annas  a  month,  and  the 
rest,  who  look  to  business  or  to  entering  the  University,  pay  from 
one  to  two  rupees  monthly.  As  we  said,  there  is  a  charity  branch 
to  this  school,  including  the  annually  promoted  Rovers.  And  to 
this  charity  the  Prince  of  Wales  gives  Rs.  250.  In  sixteen  years 
this  school  has  admitted  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-nine 
pupils,  of  whom  a  certain  number  are  in  business,  or  in  regular 
employment  in  the  city ;  but  in  this  case  the  charity  goes  not 
to  such  as  can  pay,  but  to  those  who  are  at  once  needy  and 
deserving." 

When  Mr.  Dall  went  to  India,  in  1855,  there  was  not  such  a 
thing  as  a  broom  in  Calcutta.  Floors  consisted  of  mosaics  and 
tiles  in  the  houses  of  the  rich,  and  of  hard  trodden  earth,  fixed 
with  ammoniacal  liquids,  in  the  homes  of  the  poor.  Twigs  tied 
to  a  long  handle  took  the  place  of  broom-straw,  and  mops  were 
used  in  the  finer  apartments.  The  first  thing  manufactured  in 
the  "  Useful  Arts  School "  was  the  broom.  Half  a  dozen  were 
sent  out  as  patterns,  with  broom-corn  and  handles  in  quantity, 
and  every  home  in  Calcutta  had  reason  to  rejoice  in  the  result. 
Pails  came  next  in  order  and  then  chain  pumps.  For  these  last 
there  was  a  steady  demand,  for  the  natives,  many  of  them,  drank 
surface  water.  Mr.  William  Dall,  of  Boston,  united  with  me  in 
sending  out  many  hundred.  The  influence  of  the  "  Useful  Arts 
School "  was  widespread,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  all  other 
missions  followed  its  suggestions,  to  the  great  benefit  of  their 
labors.  Some  years  after  Mr.  Ball's  death,  I  went  to  make  a 
visit  in  a  town  about  twenty  miles  from  Boston.  I  was  not  well, 


and  did  not  care  to  go  to  church,  but  my  Unitarian  friends 
pressed  me  to  do  so.  A  missionary  from  Calcutta  was  going  to 
speak.  "  But  there  is  no  Unitarian  missionary  in  Calcutta  I  "  I 
exclaimed.  "  No,"  was  the  answer,  "  he  is  a  Congregationalist, 
but  our  minister  has  welcomed  him."  I  went,  and  before  this 
Unitarian  church  an  Orthodox  minister  pleaded  for  aid,  and 
nobody  in  the  audience  knew  that  the  practical  methods  he  de- 
scribed had  been  introduced  by  one  of  their  own  body !  I  was 
glad  that  anybody  should  "  enter  into  his  labors,"  but  I  should 
have  had  more  faith  in  the  man  had  he  generously  acknowledged 
his  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Ball. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  statements  of  the  Transcript  corre- 
spondent, that  the  Schools  must  have  deserved  the  benefactions 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  now  Edward  VII.  Mr.  Ball  was  an 
American,  and  that  his  schools  should  have  received  twice  as 
much  as  those  connected  with  the  Scotch  and  English  Missions 
struck  the  missionaries  with  amazement.  Nothing  of  this  sort 
could  astonish  me,  for  in  the  first  year  of  my  married  life  I  had 
seen  boys  of  twelve  and  thirteen,  who  had  never  learned  their 
letters,  able  in  the  course  of  three  months  to  read  and  write  fairly. 
The  scholars  still  living,  who  were  Mr.  Ball's  pupils  in  Hollis 
Street,  others  who  were  connected  with  the  Tuckerman  Mission 
in  Baltimore,  can  testify  to  a  personal  power  that  seemed  little 
short  of  miraculous.  The  best  assistant  that  Mr.  Ball  ever  had 
was  Miss  Mary  Chamberlain,  afterward  Mrs.  Charles  Stewart,  of 
Calcutta.  Miss  Mary  Carpenter,  who  had  been  so  remarkably 
successful  in  training  girls  in  Bristol,  and  who  wrote  some  of  the 
ablest  existing  works  on  Reform  Schools,  became,  in  the  latter 
part  of  her  life,  intensely  interested  in  Hindoo  girls.  Her  inter- 
est was  first  awakened  by  Ramohun  Roy,  who  was  a  guest  at  her 
father's  at  an  early  period,  and  it  was  confirmed  by  the  visit  of 
Jogut  Chunder  Gangoolly,  Mr.  Ball's  first  convert  in  India,  who 
came  to  this  country  in  1860,  and  made  with  the  Rev.  Solon 
Bush  and  his  wife  a  somewhat  extended  tour.  As  he  was  the 
first  high  caste  Hindoo  who  had  come  to  the  country,  he  excited 
a  great  deal  of  attention,  and  the  notoriety  which  followed  his 
steps  put  an  end  to  the  expectations  with  which  Mr.  Ball  sent 
him  out.  Mr.  Ball  expected  him  to  go  to  Meadville,  and  in  that 
quiet  town  pursue  studies  for  three  years,  which  would  fit  him  to 


72 

become  the  religious  teacher  of  his  own  people.  He  was  well 
trained  in  the  English  language,  because  that  was  required  of 
every  aspirant  for  public  employment  in  India,  and  he  possessed 
a  facile  tongue  and  that  specious  show  of  intellect  sure  to  interest. 
In  passing  through  England  he  naturally  became  the  guest  of 
every  family  that  had  received  Ramohun  Roy.  Jogut  returned 
to  India,  and  knowing  that  he  had  disappointed  his  friend, 
avoided  him,  and  went  into  Government  employ  as  a  post-office 
clerk. 

Miss  Carpenter  made  four  visits  to  India  in  all,  neither  of 
them  long  enough  to  give  her  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
people,  and  these  four  covering  a  space  of  four  years  only.  She 
could  not  understand  the  Hindu,  and  at  each  visit  brought  out 
English  teachers,  whom  she  placed  over  girls'  schools,  and  left 
when  she  departed.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  she  had  not  the 
smallest  idea  of  the  difficulties  these  teachers  must  encounter. 
She  left  my  dear  Mary  Chamberlain  in  Ahmedabad,  where  the 
language  was  Guzerati,  of  which  Miss  Chamberlain  did  not  un- 
derstand a  word,  nor  did  one  of  her  pupils  understand  English ! 
It  is  probable  that  an  interpreter  was  provided  at  first,  but  when 
Miss  Chamberlain  was  left  without  money,  and  saw  no  prospect 
of  a  proper  support,  she  could  no  longer  pay  for  one.  She  wrote 
to  Mr.  Dall  in  great  distress,  and  Mr.  Dall  sent  her  a  check  and 
begged  her  to  come  at  once  to  him.  Mary  Chamberlain  was  a 
very  highly  educated  woman,  and  a  most  unique  personality. 
Mr.  Dall  immediately  gave  her  the  oldest  class  of  boys,  who  were 
preparing  for  the  University.  With  their  Hindoo  ideas,  it  was 
disgraceful  to  be  taught  by  a  woman.  At  the  first  murmur,  Mary 
took  the  matter  into  her  own  hands.  "  Stay  with  me  one  week," 
she  said,  "  and  then  if  you  don't  like  it  you  shall  teach  me."  A 
sheepish  laugh  followed,  and  at  the  end  of  the  week  not  a  boy 
was  willing  to  leave  her. 

The  "  Punka-wallah  "  is  a  boy  who  for  half  a  cent  a  night  sits 
moving  the  punka  that  others  may  sleep  in  peace.  He  is  neces- 
sarily of  the  lowest  caste,  and  when  he  was  allowed  to  come  into 
the  school  the  boys  resented  it,  and  would  not  sit  beside  him. 
Seeing  this  Miss  Chamberlain  got  a  stool,  placed  him  beside  her- 
self, and  insisted  on  reading  from  the  same  book.  Great  was 
their  amazement  when  they  saw  this  coveted  honor  bestowed 


73 

upon  a  castaway.  In  1872  Miss  Chamberlain  came  to  this 
country,  hoping  to  inspire  a  deeper  interest  in  the  Mission,  and 
by  personal  testimony  clear  up  matters  which  were  little  under- 
stood. One  of  these  was  Mr.  Ball's  connection  with  the  Bramo 
Somaj.  Americans  smiled  when  they  found  one  of  James  Marti- 
neau's  children  asking  Mr.  Dall  why  he  was  not  a  red  man,  and 
the  English  could  return  the  compliment  when  they  saw  in  Amer- 
ican newspapers  that  the  Unitarian  Missionary  had  become  a 
Bramin  —  a  Bramin  being  like  a  poet,  born  but  never  made! 
Miss  Chamberlain  fascinated  every  one  who  saw  her.  She  stayed 
with  me  four  months,  and  won  golden  opinions  from  the  leading 
Unitarians  wherever  she  met  them.  If  I  had  her  brilliant  powers 
I  could  do  better  justice  to  my  husband's  work. 

In  the  letter  I  have  quoted  from  the  Transcript,  it  is  implied 
that  Mr.  Dall  was  not  a  great  preacher.  If  we  are  to  judge  by 
results,  I  should  say  this  was  a  mistake.  He  preached  with  his 
lips  and  by  his  character,  and  wherever  he  went  he  left  an  abid- 
ing impression.  He  is  still  reverently  remembered  in  St.  Louis. 
In  Baltimore  he  drew  to  the  humble  hall  of  the  "  Tuckerman 
Mission  "  the  younger  part  of  Dr.  Burnap's  hearers.  In  Toronto 
he  left  a  very  strong  impression  to  which  the  late  ministers  of 
that  church  can  testify.  He  was  a  born  preacher,  and  when  a 
child  of  six,  would  mount  a  kitchen  chair  on  Sunday  and  preach 
to  the  negroes. 

Since  I  came  to  Buffalo,  where  I  am  arranging  this  Appen- 
dix, and  where,  half  a  century  ago,  Mr.  Dall  frequently  exchanged 
with  Dr.  Hosmer,  a  lady  has  told  me  that  when  she  was  a  little 
child  in  1850,  or  thereabouts,  she  heard  Mr.  Dall  preach  in  the 
Buffalo  pulpit.  His  subject  was  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Young  as 
she  was,  she  listened  to  every  word,  and  she  has  never  forgotten 
what  he  said.  This  would  not  have  happened  had  he  been  an 
indifferent  preacher. 

Mr.  Wm.  Dall,  who  was  his  father's  brother,  had  adopted 
him.  He  was  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  supporters  of  Theo- 
dore Parker.  Long  before  Mr.  Dall  married,  my  father  had 
become  one  of  five  men  who  invited  Theodore  Parker  into  his 
Boston  pulpit  and  guaranteed  his  salary.  It  was  not  strange  that 
these  facts  confined  Mr.  Dall's  preaching  chiefly  to  country  pul- 
pits. But  I  do  not  believe  he  ever  thought  of  it.  If  I  did,  I 
never  spoke  of  it. 


74 

It  is  not  probable  that  Mr.  Ball  ever  made  a  greater  sacrifice 
than  when  he  closed  the  Sunday  services  in  Calcutta.  Those 
services  were  attended  chiefly  by  the  fashionable  English  and 
American  residents,  and  did  not  do  anything  to  serve  his  main 
purpose.  In  preaching  his  short  sermons  to  his  Hindoo  pupils 
seven  days  in  the  week,  he  had  a  right  to  feel  that  he  exchanged 
his  "single  rose"  for  "  a  rose  tree  that  beareth  seven  times  seven." 
The  most  brilliant  sermons  that  Mr.  Ball  ever  preached  followed 
the  brain  fever,  which  by  weakening  his  constitution  led  to  what 
was  to  be  the  great  work  of  his  life,  the  India  Mission.  The 
Toronto  people  owe  their  Unitarian  Church  to  his  efforts,  and 
have  the  best  right  to  appreciate  his  power  in  the  pulpit.  The 
fever  followed  his  return  from  Boston,  where  his  collections  were 
made,  and  when  he  recovered  sufficiently  to  preach,  the  old 
church  had  been  sold,  the  new  one  was  under  way,  and  his 
people  gathered  in  a  hall.  Here  many  persons  listened  to  him 
who  would  not  have  listened  in  a  Unitarian  church. 

Mr.  Ball  created  the  first  girls'  school  in  Calcutta,  and 
secured  the  success  which  others  had  not  been  able  to  attain  by 
sending  his  own  carriage  to  collect  the  pupils,  and  at  the  close  of 
school  sending  them  home  in  the  same  way.  Even  Hindoo  preju- 
dice could  not  object  to  this. 

Every  autumn  we  sent  out  from  Boston  a  box  of  Christmas 
gifts.  Illustrated  books,  dolls,  toys  of  all  kinds,  and  fine  patterns 
for  needlework  filled  this  box.  Canned  fruits  were  sent,  and  were 
a  useful  means  of  breaking  down  all  caste  prejudices.  Many  of 
the  girls  in  this  school  were  not  only  of  the  highest  caste,  but 
born  of  very  wealthy  parents,  and  came  to  the  school  covered 
with  jewels.  Everything  that  was  sent  must  be  fresh  and  clean, 
and  if  possible,  dainty.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  make  my 
friends  understand  this.  They  thought  for  a  long  time  that  the 
cast-off  toys  and  books  of  their  own  nurseries  ought  to  be  good 
enough  for  the  heathen.  They  were  slow  to  learn  the  spotless 
cleanliness  of  a  high-born  Hindu. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  estimate  the  number  of  publications 
which  Mr.  Ball  issued.  He  prepared  and  printed  all  his  own 
hymn-books  and  service-books. 

Buring  his  thirty-one  years  of  service,  he  inherited  from  his 
father  or  received  from  relatives,  legacies  amounting  to  $75,000. 


75 

At  his  death  not  eleven  thousand  remained.  The  rest  had  been 
used  for  the  purposes  of  the  Mission  —  for  his  publications  and 
school  furnishings.  This  money  was  never  invested.  It  was 
simply  put  in  the  bank  and  used  as  he  wanted  it.  As  the  interest 
of  the  money,  if  he  had  given  time  and  thought  to  it,  would  have 
served  his  purpose  as  well,  his  friends  were  not  slow  to  criticize 
this  habit.  "  I  have  not  time  to  save  money,"  he  said,  with 
Agassiz.  Once  in  his  life,  and  in  the  interest  of  the  Association, 
he  showed  some  worldly  wisdom.  His  friend,  Mr.  Hayward,  was 
making  the  will,  which  left  a  certain  sum  of  money  to  the  Associa- 
tion for  the  support  of  the  Calcutta  Mission.  He  wrote  for  the 
support  of  the  India  Mission  when  Mr.  Ball  stopped  him.  "  Write 
Foreign  instead  of  India,"  he  expostulated ;  "  the  time  may  come 
when  India  will  not  need  a  mission."  Mr.  Hayward  yielded,  and 
for  that  reason  when  money  was  wanted  for  Japan  it  was  ready, 
and  practically  a  gift  from  the  Missionary  to  Calcutta.  He 
reported  for  the  Calcutta  Council.  He  wrote  an  account  of  the 
Suez  Canal,  which  still  serves  as  a  guide-book.  He  wrote  almost 
daily  for  the  Calcutta  Englishman  at  ten  dollars  a  column,  and 
the  four  letters  with  which  he  signed  his  communications  always 
commanded  attention.  He  did  not  spare  his  own  labors  nor  the 
money  which  came  to  him.  If  he  saw  that  something  ought  to 
be  done,  he  never  waited  for  the  means.  He  was  the  intimate 
friend  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  and  the  only  white  man  present 
at  his  death.  In  the  dissensions  which  followed  it,  his  care  and 
counsels  were  of  great  use  to  Mozoomdar. 

At  his  own  expense  he  turned  out  of  the  way  to  visit  Hun- 
gary, to  preach  in  its  Unitarian  churches,  and  to  open  the  way  to 
the  sympathy  of  the  American  church,  which  has  lately  been  so 
fruitful  of  interest. 

While  he  was  lavish  in  expenditure  for  such  things,  he  was 
most  economical  in  his  habits.  He  was  a  vegetarian,  like  his 
pupils,  and  drank  nothing  but  water  and  tea.  "  If  they  only  knew 
it,"  said  Miss  Chamberlain,  when  she  was  in  Boston  in  1872, 
"  If  the  Association  only  knew  it,  it  would  be  well  to  keep  Mr. 
Ball  in  Calcutta  if  he  never  preached  a  sermon  or  taught  a  pupil. 
His  life  is  a  sermon ;  he  has  not  a  bad  habit.  Other  men  who 
preach,  smoke  and  drink.  He  does  neither." 

One  of  Mr.  Ball's  most  valuable  agencies  was  the  formation 


76 

of  the  "  Bands  of  Hope."  These  were  the  children  of  his  schools 
united  in  temperance  work.  For  them  he  wrote  and  printed 
stories  and  hymns. 

I  add  to  these  pages  a  few  of  the  hymns  furnished  for  these 
Bands  and  his  other  pupils,  and  also  a  sample  of  his  teaching  in 
the  Introduction  to  a  lesson  on  the  "  Lilies."  I  preface  the 
hymns  with  a  note  written  by  Mr.  Sunderland  to  the  Register,  not 
long  ago,  because  Mr.  Dall  attached  his  own  name  to  the  verses 
he  himself  wrote,  and  those  which  are  unsigned  are  translated 
from  the  native  tongues,  very  likely  from  Khasi. 

I  have  written  these  few  pages  at  a  great  disadvantage,  for 
the  proper  materials,  carefully  secured  by  myself,  are  now  entirely 
out  of  my  reach,  but  I  would  not  on  that  account  relinquish  the 
hope  that  I  might  revive  the  memory  of  a  noble  work  done. 

Mr.  Ball's  work  will  seem  to  my  readers  to  involve  a  constant 
self-sacrifice,  but  it  ought  not  to  be  so  considered.  His  whole 
heart  and  soul  were  in  it,  and  he  was  doing  what  he  wished  to 
do.  He  had  beside,  the  great  satisfaction  of  feeling,  even  while 
he  did  not  know  that  he  felt  it,  that  he  was  a  man  of  mark  in 
Calcutta ;  a  longer  resident  than  any  citizen,  and  known  to  every 
one,  of  whatever  nation,  as  a  person  ready  to  help  in  every  civil- 
izing as  well  as  Christian  work. 

Few  persons  of  eminence  came  to  India  who  did  not  visit 
his  schools  and  give  him  their  friendship.  As  he  went  back  and 
forth  every  five  years,  he  made  valuable  friends  who  stimulated 
his  mental  powers,  and  increased  his  satisfaction  in  his  work. 
He  had  made  a  friend  of  James  Martineau  and  Harriet  when  he 
arrived  in  England  from  Mobile.  The  friendship  of  such  people 
as  the  Unitarian  preachers  of  that  day,  of  Elisabeth  Fry  and  the 
Gurneys  and  the  body  of  Friends  connected  with  them,  of  Amelia 
Opie,  Joanna  Bailey  and  Mrs.  Steer,  of  Maria  Edgeworth  and  the 
Pagets,  he  would  have  called  a  compensation  for  many  trials  had 
he  ever  for  one  moment  turned  his  thoughts  that  way. 

CAROLINE  HEALEY  DALL. 
July  10,  1902. 


APPENDIX. 


(From  the  Christian  Register. ) 

I. 
REV.  CHARLES   H.  A.  DALL. 

BORN    AT    BALTIMORE,    MD.,    FEBRUARY    12,    l8l6. 
DIED   AT   CALCUTTA,    E.  I.,    JULY    1 8,    1 886. 

"The  pilgrim  they  laid  in  a  chamber 
Whose  window  opened  toward  the  sun-rising. 
The  name  of  the  chamber  was  Peace. 
There  he  lay  till  break  of  day,  and  then 

He  arose  and  sang."  — Bunyan. 

IN  offering  to  our  readers  some  account  of  the  last  hours  of 
the  devoted  missionary  to  India,  we  are  forced  to  remember  that 
the  thirty-one  years  of  his  service  cover  more  than  the  lifetime  of 
a  generation.  Few  of  our  readers  ever  knew  the  circumstances 
which  led  to  his  departure,  and  the  survivors  of  these  have  prob- 
ably forgotten  the  details.  To  speak  of  them  now  is  the  more 
necessary  as,  in  the  recent  Life  of  Rev.  Charles  T.  Brooks,  no 
allusion  has  been  made  to  the  inception  of  the  India  Mission, 
which  was  entirely  due  to  his  efforts. 

When,  in  1854,  Mr.  Brooks  returned  from  his  tour  round  the 
world,  Mr.  Ball  had  been  idle  for  nearly  a  year,  seeking  in  vain 
for  health.  Fatigues  and  disappointments  connected  with  his 
church  in  Toronto,  where  he  and  Mrs.  Dall  had  been  most  hap- 
pily situated  for  several  years,  brought  on  a  brain  fever ;  and  he 
hung  for  thirteen  weeks  between  life  and  death.  As  he  grew 
better  slowly,  he  remained  in  a  condition  which  would  now  be 
called  one  of  nervous  prostration.  After  occasionally  preaching 
in  pulpits  in  or  near  Boston  during  several  months,  it  was  clear 
that  his  condition  would  not  admit  of  permanent  settlement. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Brooks  arrived  in  Boston,  he  made  his  appeal 
to  the  American  Unitarian  Association  in  behalf  of  the  Unitarians 
of  Bengal,  especially  those  who,  after  the  close  of  Rev.  William 
Adam's  mission,  had  clustered  about  the  native  preacher,  William 
Roberts. 

79 


8o 

Mr.  Brooks  was  enthusiastic.  After  the  Association  had 
yielded  to  his  wish,  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  find  a  missionary. 
The  ideas  which  in  evangelical  churches  encourage  foreign  mis- 
sions find  little  sympathy  among  Unitarians.  If  Mr.  Ball's 
mission  had  depended  on  the  support  of  the  Church,  it  must  have 
failed  long  ago.  Foiled  in  every  other  direction,  Mr.  Brooks 
came  to  Mr.  Dall  again  and  again.  He  would  not  listen  when 
Mrs.  Dall  persistently  pleaded  that  her  husband  was  unfit  for 
steady  work.  The  voyage,  he  was  sure,  would  wholly  restore  his 
health ;  and,  finally,  the  Association,  following  Mr.  Brooks's  lead, 
offered  the  mission  to  Mr.  Dall. 

So  it  happened  one  day  that  Mr.  Dall  came  home  and  told 
his  wife  that  one  of  the  rare  merchant  vessels  sailing  to  India 
would  start  in  three  days,  that  he  was  ready  to  go,  but  he  left  the 
decision  to  her.  Sorely  perplexed  was  the  anxious  wife.  She 
did  not  believe  that  her  husband  ought  to  go,  yet  she  knew  not 
what  to  do  to  convince  him  or  the  Association ;  but  she  took 
counsel  with  his  two  physicians,  Dr.  Brown,  of  West  Newton,  and 
Dr.  John  Mason  Warren,  of  Boston.  Both  replied  to  her  in  the 
same  way :  "  The  responsibility  was  not  hers.  There  was  a  bare 
chance  that  the  voyage  might  wholly  restore  him  —  he  was  to  be 
absent  only  two  years  —  better  let  him  try  it."  So,  in  three  days, 
Mrs.  Dall  stood  sadly  at  the  end  of  Central  Wharf,  and  watched 
the  vanishing  sails  of  the  Calcutta  ship.  It  was  the  i3th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1855.  The  voyage  was  disastrous  in  every  respect.  It 
was  very  long ;  and,  from  the  hour  that  the  vessel  quitted  Boston 
Harbor  till  he  was  carried  ashore  at  Calcutta  in  a  litter,  Mr.  Dall 
never  lifted  his  head  from  the  pillow.  Of  course,  months  passed 
before  he  was  able  properly  to  organize  his  work.  There  were 
obstacles  which  he  had  not  anticipated  in  the  vigorous  opposition 
of  the  evangelical  missionaries,  and  many  outlying  stations  had  to 
be  reached  from  Calcutta.  At  the  end  of  the  two  years  he  had 
promised  to  remain,  Mr.  Dall  thought  it  impossible  to  leave  his 
work.  If  he  was  to  come  home,  he  must  leave  it  in  good  shape 
for  his  successor.  It  was  not  until  he  had  been  in  India  six  and 
a  half  years  that  he  felt  free  to  turn  his  steps  to  America.  He 
reached  Liverpool  in  time  to  take  passage  in  the  Great  Eastern, 
on  the  ill-fated  voyage  which  began  on  Tuesday,  September  10, 
1 86 1  ;  and  that  voyage  was  the  turning  point  of  his  career.  If 


8i 

he  had  reached  America  then,  he  would  never  have  returned ; 
and  India  would  have  lost  her  missionary.  Both  his  wife  and 
his  uncle,  Mr.  William  Dall,  of  Boston  —  whose  son  he  was  by 
adoption  —  felt  sure  that  his  health  had  not  improved  as  had 
been  hoped,  and  strenuous  efforts  would  have  been  made  to  keep 
him  at  home.  Three  hundred  and  eighty  miles  west  of  Cape 
Clear,  a  sudden  storm  struck  the  Great  Eastern,  and  snapped 
her  rudder.  Rigging  and  paddle-wheels  had  to  be  cut  away. 
Boats  were  crushed ;  and  but  for  an  ingenious  temporary  steering 
apparatus,  invented  by  a  young  civil  engineer  from  Boston,  Mr. 
Hamilton  Towle,  the  passengers  would  probably  have  lost  their 
lives.  As  it  was,  after  wallowing  in  the  trough  of  the  sea  for 
three  days  and  nights  —  often  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees, 
and  moving  as  the  storm  abated  at  nine  knots  an  hour  —  the  un- 
happy vessel  reached  Queenstown  on  the  afternoon  of  the  lyth. 

The  confusion  and  terror  of  that  time  have  been  often  de- 
scribed. While  it  lasted,  Mr.  Dall  was  seen  several  times,  himself 
suffering,  but  trying  to  soothe  the  distracted  passengers  in  the 
steerage.  After  that,  he  was  lost  sight  of  for  some  weeks.  His 
wife  went  twice  to  the  wharf  at  East  Boston,  with  a  carriage,  ex- 
pecting to  find  him,  but  in  vain.  At  last,  a  letter  was  received 
from  a  Unitarian  clergyman  in  Liverpool,  stating  that  Mr.  Dall 
had  been  ill  at  his  house  for  weeks,  and  was  utterly  incapable  of 
communicating  with  his  friends.  Mrs.  Dall  wrote  at  once,  en- 
closing all  necessary  help ;  but  before  her  letter  reached  Liver- 
pool, Mr.  Dall  had  rallied  sufficiently  to  reclaim  his  passage 
money,  and  start  overland  for  India.  He  wrote  to  his  wife  that 
he  had  been  forbidden  by  his  physicians  to  attempt  the  home 
voyage  in  his  exhausted  condition,  and  there  is  very  little  doubt 
that  exposure  and  suffering  had  brought  him  to  the  state  in  which 
he  had  left  Toronto  seven  years  before.  It  was  not  till  Septem- 
ber, 1862,  that  he  again  attempted  to  return;  and  then  he  was 
deaf  to  all  entreaties  to  give  up  his  work. 

It  was  impossible  for  his  wife  and  family  to  go  to  India  with 
him.  At  no  time  did  he  ever  receive  more  than  fourteen  hundred 
dollars  a  year  —  a  sum  utterly  inadequate  to  the  support  of  a 
family  in  Calcutta  —  nor  could  his  mission  have  been  sustained 
except  by  the  aid  of  wealthy  relatives  and  friends.  When  he  left 
America  in  the  spring  of  1863,  it  was  clear  that  he  would  never 


82 

be  able  to  undertake  steady  work  in  his  native  country.  The 
moist,  warm  climate  of  Bengal  relaxed  the  tension  of  his  nerves, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  set  him  free  from  the  tyranny  of  disease. 
There  was  another  circumstance  also  which  made  life  easier  in 
Bengal  than  in  America.  He  was  his  own  master ;  no  man  dic- 
tated his  methods ;  no  association  criticized  his  work.  If  he  got 
tired  of  Calcutta,  a  dozen  outlying  stations  beckoned  with  wel- 
coming hands,  and  offered  the  change  essential  to  his  Oriental 
temperament.  Mr.  Ball  returned  to  America  in  1867,  in  1872, 
and  again  in  1875,  for  business  reasons. 

His  health  was  never  firm.  After  his  first  return,  it  was 
understood  that  he  was  to  be  at  liberty  to  come  back  every  fifth 
year ;  but  with  one  exception  —  that  of  his  last  visit  —  he  never 
claimed  the  full  extent  of  his  vacation.  After  the  first  few  weeks 
of  his  stay,  his  nerves  and  lungs  suffered  from  the  irritating 
effects  of  climate,  and  threatened  permanent  results. 

In  May,  1881,  Mr.  Ball  reached  Boston  for  the  last  time. 
The  great  loss  of  strength  since  his  previous  visit  was  apparent 
to  every  one,  and  those  who  loved  him  knew  that  they  saw  him 
for  the  last  time.  He  himself,  however,  was  still  cheerful  and 
hopeful.  The  Association  offered  him  a  companion  on  his  home- 
ward journey.  He  would  not  accept  the  offer ;  but  from  the  time 
of  this  journey,  his  heart  seemed  to  turn  to  his  family  and  friends 
and  native  land,  with  a  renewal  of  early  affection.  He  wrote 
oftener,  although  he  was  still  less  able  to  write. 

Buring  the  last  five  years  he  had  two  severe  attacks  of  stone, 
from  the  latter  of  which  he  recovered  with  difficulty ;  but  through 
the  winter  of  1885  and  late  into  the  spring  of  1886,  he  wrote  of 
himself  as  perfectly  well.  On  February  12,  as  he  entered  his 
seventieth  year,  his  assistant,  Mrs.  Helen  Tomkins,  prepared  for 
him  the  birthday  fete  which  will  long  be  remembered  in  Calcutta. 
She  was  moved,  perhaps,  by  some  prevision  of  his  approaching 
end.  It  gave  him  great  delight,  and  his  family  will  always  feel 
personally  grateful  for  the  tender  thought  which  provided  it. 

In  May,  Mr.  Ball  left  Calcutta  for  Kurseong,  a  hill  station, 
where,  as  he  wrote  to  his  wife,  he  received  the  visits  of  two  physi- 
cians daily,  but  in  spite  of  "stinging  pain,"  no  medication  what- 
ever. June  the  loth  he  wrote  of  himself  as  "perfectly  well," 
from  Barjiling.  "  As  usual,"  he  says,  "  my  elastic  constitution 


83 

rises  without  help  from  medicine.  The  pure  water  and  the  pure 
mountain  air  were  all  I  needed  to  be  perfectly  free  from  pain." 

Of  course,  this  letter  was  not  received  until  the  loth  of  July; 
and  on  the  igth,  the  cable  brought  the  astounding  news  that  he 
had  died  at  Calcutta,  July  18. 

Thirty-five  weary  days  of  waiting  began,  but  they  were 
broken  by  three  letters  from  his  vanished  hand.  On  June  15  he 
wrote  of  himself  as  well,  in  a  very  long  letter  to  his  wife.  On  the 
1 8th,  a  brief  message  concerning  her  expected  journey  came  to 
his  daughter.  On  the  loth  of  July  he  wrote  again,  saying  he  was 
weary,  having  just  come  down  from  Darjiling  —  a  strange  thing 
for  him  to  do  at  that  season  of  the  year  —  but  making  no 
complaint. 

On  Sunday,  August  22,  full  letters  were  received  from  Mrs. 
Tomkins,  containing  the  details  of  the  last  week  of  his  life. 

He  had  come  down  from  the  mountains  in  search  of  the 
medical  aid  which  had  never  failed  him  before.  In  three  or  four 
days  he  was  induced  to  call  in  Dr.  McLeod,  a  well-known  and 
distinguished  surgeon. 

At  first  it  was  proposed  to  perform  the  necessary  operation 
for  stone  at  his  own  house  in  Dhurrumtollah  Street ;  but  hospital 
appliances  seemed  necessary.  On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  July  18, 
he  went  cheerfully  to  the  Medical  College  Hospital,  where  Dr. 
McLeod  performed  the  operation  in  the  presence  of  six  of  the 
leading  surgeons  of  Calcutta.  Dr.  McLeod  must  have  understood 
very  well  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  his  patient  to  survive 
the  operation ;  but  Mr.  Dall's  cheerful  courage  probably  misled 
the  physician  as  to  the  amount  of  his  vitality,  and  no  word  of 
warning  was  spoken. 

The  operation  lasted  an  hour  and  a  half.  Twice  it  was 
necessary  to  pause  and  suspend  the  use  of  chloroform,  but  at  last 
it  was  successfully  ended.  At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  fever 
appeared.  The  pain  was  incessant,  and  no  remedies  had  any 
effect  upon  it.  Mr.  Dall  became  delirious,  was  wholly  uncon- 
scious for  an  hour,  and  ceased  to  breathe  a  little  after  ten  at 
night. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  next  evening,  July  19,  his  remains 
were  interred  in  the  Circular  Road  Cemetery,  in  the  presence  of 
a  large  body  of  friends,  Rev.  J.  M.  Thoburn  reading  the  service. 


84 

A  "vast  concourse"  of  natives  —  more  than  a  thousand,  it  is 
said  —  bowed  low  over  his  remains.  The  "  Rovers "  cast  gar- 
lands of  jessamine  into  the  grave,  and  the  members  of  the  Brahmo 
Somaj  asked  permission  to  hold  a  service  of  prayer  above  it. 
Everything  that  science  and  devotion  could  do  to  soothe  the 
dying  hour  was  done.  Let  us  be  grateful  that  it  was  only  an 
hour.  Those  who  loved  him  here,  those  who  would  gladly  have 
watched  beside  him  —  however  long  he  might  have  suffered  — 
are  grateful  that  his  agony  was  so  brief,  that  he  never  had  time 
to  miss  the  care  they  were  not  permitted  to  render. 

It  is  not  ours  to  record   the   triumphs  of   his  work.     That 
must  be  left  to  other  hands. 


REV.  C.  H.  A.  DALL. 

SINCE  our  last  issue,  full  particulars  have  been  received  of 
the  sickness  and  death  of  this  faithful  laborer.  He  died  suddenly, 
in  consequence  of  a  surgical  operation,  on  the  evening  of  July  18  ; 
but  the  disease  which  made  it  necessary  was  one  which  had  fol- 
lowed him  from  early  youth,  and  over  which  the  climate  of  Cal- 
cutta and  the  pressure  of  work  there,  which  prevented  him  from 
dwelling  on  his  physical  condition,  had  exercised  a  beneficent 
influence.  A  year  ago  he  was  very  ill ;  and  only  a  month  before 
his  death,  when  the  final  issue  began  to  threaten  him,  he  wrote 
cheerfully  of  his  elastic  constitution,  which  always  rallied  "  with- 
out medicine."  The  truth  was  that  his  physicians  considered  him 
far  too  delicate  for  treatment.  The  day  before  he  died  he  went 
alone  to  the  famous  Eden  Gardens  to  enjoy  the  birds  and  flowers ; 
and  those  who  loved  him  are  comforted  by  the  thought  that, 
dying  away  from  home,  he  suffered  only  twelve  hours,  during  a 
part  of  which  he  knew  no  pain. 

A  long  letter  from  Sree  Narain,  who  had  been  his  friend  and 
pupil  for  thirty-one  years,  brings  the  fullest  details.  The  most 
tender  affection  breathes  in  every  line  of  it. 

When  Narain  saw  him  "lying  on  the  sofa,"  on  the  nth  of 
July,  it  frightened  him.  In  all  the  thirty-one  years  he  had  never 
seen  him  idle  before.  In  this  almost  dying  hour,  he  spoke  with 


85 

pleasure  of  the  resolutions  passed  last  May  by  the  Association, 
and  expressed  his  delight  that  his  work  was  to  continue.  On  the 
1 7th  it  was  evident  that  he  had  lost  strength.  All  through  the 
suffering  hours  which  succeeded  the  operation,  Narain  was  with 
him ;  and  Singha  and  a  faithful  band  of  natives  waited  about  the 
Mission  House  for  hourly  news  from  the  hospital. 

"  The  simple  majesty  of  a  faithful  life  stamped  his  dead 
face,"  wrote  Narain. 

The  whole  household  watched  with  the  body.  The  next  day 
the  Mission  House  was  filled  with  friends  and  pupils,  who  brought 
tearfully  flowers  and  fragrant  garlands.  In  concluding  his  letter, 
Sree  Narain  writes  :  — 

"  His  death  is  an  irreparable  loss  to  me.  I  owe  everything 
in  my  life  to  him  —  to  his  sympathy,  his  wise  counsel,  and  noble 
example." 

In  conformity  to  the  broad  Christianity  which  distinguished 
Dr.  Dall,  a  Sister  of  Mercy  prayed  beside  his  dying-bed ;  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Thoburn,  a  Methodist  minister  of  noble  liberality,  read 
the  funeral  service,  to  be  immediately  succeeded  by  a  Brahmo 
ceremonial  performed  by  Babu  Umesh  Chandra  Datta,  one  of  the 
ministers  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  If  Mr.  Dall  had  ever  thought  of 
his  own  funeral,  this  is  what  he  would  have  desired ;  and  will  it 
not  touch  the  hearts  of  those  who  years  ago  wrote  bitterly  to  his 
wife  and  family,  complaining  that  he  had  gone  to  India  only  to 
become  a  "  Brahmin  ? "  In  regard  to  this,  the  Calcutta  Liberal 
says :  — 

"  From  our  infancy  we  have  regarded  Mr.  Dall  with  profound 
respect  and  admiration.  He  was  the  friend  of  all  classes.  A 
warm  admirer  of  Rammohun  Roy,  he  exhorted  our  people  to  imi- 
tate his  glorious  life.  His  Unitarian  faith  did  not  prevent  him 
from  becoming  one  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj.  It  required  great 
moral  courage  to  proclaim  his  belief  in  the  simple  creed  of  Indian 
theism.  We  remember  the  day  when,  after  a  challenge  to  our 
minister  and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the  late  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain, he  took  pen,  ink,  and  paper  and  declared  himself  a 
Brahmo.  In  our  Nagar  Sankirtans  he  went  first,  banner  in  hand ; 
and  he  was  asked  to  preside  at  several  of  our  meetings.  We  did 
not  agree  with  him  in  religious  opinion,  but  we  shall  have  no 
other  friend  as  zealous  and  good." 


86 

The  Central  Indian  News  says  :  — 

"  Mr.  Dall  has  laid  the  community  under  an  endless  debt  of 
gratitude.  There  are  few  men  in  Calcutta  who  did  not  know  Mr. 
Dall,  and  to  every  one  his  death  is  a  personal  calamity.  Though 
a  missionary,  he  was  not  a  sectarian." 

The  Indian  Messenger,  after  mentioning  the  distinguished 
natives  assembled  at  the  Mission  House,  gives  an  account  of  the 
funeral,  mentions  the  "  poor  women  "  who  were  seen  weeping,  the 
pupils  who  threw  jessamine  into  the  open  grave,  and  goes  on  to 
say:  — 

"  The  many  noble  and  charming  traits  of  his  character  won 
the  affection  of  all.  He  had  lately  gone  to  the  mountains  for  a 
change.  At  Kurseong,  he  said :  '  Now,  the  Lord  says,  "  You 
shall  not  work ; "  and  I  must  stop.' " 

Another  paper,  not  marked,  says :  — 

"  He  was  the  friend  of  every  Bengalee.  Many  now  bearing 
the  heat  and  burden  of  life  are  indebted  to  him  for  their  guiding 
impulse.  His  '  Ragged  School '  is  a  monument  to  his  memory. 
He  exercised  a  deep  and  far-reaching  influence  by  the  simple 
grandeur  of  a  noble  character.  He  lived  with  the  people.  Above 
all,  he  was  the  great  champion  of  temperance  in  Bengal.  When 
the  late  Babu  Piary  Churu  Sircar  endeavored  to  unite  the  youth 
of  Bengal  in  solemn  pledge,  he  found  no  more  zealous  helper  than 
Mr.  Dall. 

"  The  death  of  such  a  man,  so  true,  so  intensely  devoted  to 
the  good  of  India,  will  create  a  void  that  it  will  be  difficult  to  fill." 

Soon  after  Mr.  Dall's  death,  at  a  date  not  given,  but  preced- 
ing the  first  of  August,  a  meeting  was  held  in  Calcutta  to  consider 
what  steps  should  be  taken  to  perpetuate  his  memory.  Babu 
Soorendro  Nath  presided ;  and  an  old  pupil,  Babu  Kartish 
Chunder  Dass,  moved  a  resolution  commemorating  "  his  noble 
personal  character,  the  loftiness  of  his  aims,  and  the  single- 
minded  zeal  which  have  called  forth  the  lasting  and  affectionate 
gratitude  of  the  people  of  Bengal."  The  resolution  was  spoken 
to  by  several  natives,  and  passed  unanimously. 

A  resolution  to  perpetuate  his  memory  in  some  suitable  form 
followed,  and  a  committee  of  twelve  eminent  natives  was  ap- 
pointed to  collect  subscriptions  for  the  memorial.  Babu  Nath 
Chatterjee,  in  speaking,  said,  "  There  are  few  men  in  Calcutta  so 


87 

distinguished  as  Mr.  Ball,  whose  loss  I  consider  irreparable." 
Babu  Nath  Banerjee  said  Mr.  Dall  "  had  never  been  his  teacher, 
but  he  was  indebted  to  him  for  rousing  in  him  certain  sentiments 
and  feelings,  and  thousands  could  say  the  same.  All  who  came 
in  contact  with  him  felt  his  influence. 

"  He  was  the  friend  of  the  poor  and  the  bosom  friend  of 
Chunder  Sen.  He  had  the  simple  majesty  of  a  great  character, 
with  rare  devotion  to  truth.  The  greatest  monument  they  could 
raise  to  him  would  be  to  imitate  his  life."  The  meeting  ad- 
journed, with  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Nath  Banerjee. 


(From  the  American  Unitarian  Association1!  "  Word  and  Work  " 
for  March,  1884.) 

IT  is  so  difficult  to  get  any  clear  and  frank  report  of  the 
impressions  made  upon  an  impartial  observer  by  the  work  of  one 
whose  field  of  labor  is  so  distant  as  that  of  Mr.  Dall,  that  we 
gladly  print  a  brief  communication  received  from  one  of  our 
wisest  and  most  experienced  ministers.  The  note  speaks  for 
itself.  It  contains  a  fitting  tribute  to  one  who  has  labored  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  away  from  all  his  early  associations, 
and  amid  a  people  far  removed  from  him  in  race,  conditions,  cus- 
toms of  life,  and  ways  of  thinking. 

"  HONOR  TO  WHOM  HONOR  is  DUE." 
REV.  C.  H.  A.  DALL. 

A  friend  gives  us  these  notes  of  a  conversation  with  a  lady 
now  returned  to  New  England  who,  with  her  lamented  husband, 
the  late  Richard  McAllister,  resided  in  Calcutta  during  nineteen 
years  of  Mr.  Dall's  mission ;  meeting  him  also  from  time  to  time 
in  summer  when  he  was  at  "the  Hills." 

"  He,  of  all  missionaries  in  India,  has  the  right  idea  of  his 
business.  He  is  a  man  that  works  all  the  time.  He  is  up  by 
half  past  four  in  the  morning.  If  he  takes  a  walk,  it  is  for  health 
and  for  the  business  of  his  Mission.  Everything  that  he  saves 
he  gives  to  his  work.  He  is  interested  throughout  India;  gets 


88 

the  poor  homeless  children  that  are  in  the  streets,  secures  homes 
for  them,  educates  them,  and  finds  positions  for  them.  Many  of 
the  boys  whom  he  has  taken  up  and  educated  have  become  reli- 
able, responsible  men ;  some  of  them  are  '  circars  '  —  that  is, 
writers ;  for  there  are  shipping  circars,  receiving  circars,  clearing 
circars,  and  '  Godoun '  (or  storehouse)  circars. 

"  He  always  interested  himself  in  behalf  of  the  sick,  whether 
they  were  poor  natives  or  homeless  sailors. 

"  He  has  five  schoolrooms  in  one  large  building ;  also  several 
schoolrooms  in  different  parts  of  the  city  ;  and  takes  charge  of 
the  children  in  some  of  their  recitations  daily. 

"  One  year  I  distributed  the  prizes  in  one  of  his  schools,  his 
custom  being  to  select  different  ladies  from  time  to  time  for  this 
purpose. 

"  Among  people  of  high  position  and  culture  in  India,  Mrs. 
Justice  Feer  has  great  faith  in  him ;  also  Sir  Ashley  Eden,  Mrs. 
Thompson,  Lady  Temple,  and  numerous  others. 

"  We  were  in  the  way  of  seeing  him  often  at  our  house,  and 
my  husband  was  glad  to  contribute  to  his  work.  I  have  often 
heard  him  say  of  Mr.  Dall,  '  Here  is  a  true  man,  a  true,  honest 
worker  who  lives  up  to  his  faith.  I  do  not  believe  that  people  at 
home  in  America  have  any  idea  of  the  amount  of  good  that  he  is 
doing.' 

"  At  the  time  of  his  death,  I  learn  that  my  husband  found 
great  comfort  in  Mr.  Ball's  devoted  attentions. 

"  I  do  not  think,"  continued  Mrs.  M.,  "  that  there  has  ever 
been  a  time  when  anything  has  ever  been  brought  up  against 
Mr.  D.  in  any  point.  How  could  you  ever  fill  his  place  ?  He  is 
so  patient,  and  so  just.  Remember  that  the  natives  require  to  be 
dealt  with  very  much  as  children.  His  influence  has  deepened 
with  each  added  year  of  his  stay,  because  he  has  never  disap- 
pointed the  confidence  that  was  reposed  in  him.  Moreover,  the 
first  two  or  three  years  of  one's  stay  in  India,  before  he  has 
acquired  the  language  of  the  natives,  he  is  obviously  of  less  ser- 
vice than  at  a  later  period.  However  deceitful  and  untrustworthy 
the  natives  are,  they  respect  uprightness  of  character.  Of  such 
men  as  Mr.  McAllister  and  Rev.  Mr.  Dall,  they  were  wont  to  say, 
'  Ek  bat  hai  Khoda  bat  hai'  —  'They  are  like  God,  they  only 
speak  one  kind  of  talk.'  " 


89 


THE  DALL  MEMORIAL  FUND. 

AT  the  meeting  of  the  subscribers  to  the  Ball  Memorial 
Fund,  held  at  the  American  Unitarian  Mission  House,  77  Dhur- 
rumtolla  Street,  on  Saturday,  July  5,  1886,  the  following  resolu- 
tions were  passed :  — 

1.  That  the  meeting  gratefully  accepts  the  offer  of  Miss  C. 
Philips  to  paint  the  portrait  of  the  late  Rev.  C.  H.  A.  Dall,  at  the 
nominal  charge  of  Rs.  100,  as  a  mark  of  the  respect  her  father 
cherished  for  that  gentleman. 

2.  That  a  sum  of  Rs.  250  be  set  apart  for  a  tombstone. 

3.  That  the  balance,  including  such  subscriptions  as  may 
be  hereafter  realized,  be  used  for  awarding,  yearly,  a  scholarship, 
or  medal,  as  the  funds  may  allow,  to  the  most  successful  student 
of  Ball's  High  School,  Entrance  Class. 

4.  That  further  efforts  be  made  to  collect  subscriptions  to 
the  fund. 

The  amount  of  subscriptions  at  present  realized  is  somewhat 
short  of  Rs.  400 ;  and  there  ought  not  to  be  difficulty  in  making 
up  an  amount  that  would  suffice  to  carry  out  the  above  suggestions. 

LIST   OF   REALIZED   SUBSCRIPTIONS. 

Rs.      A.     P. 
Baboo  Rakhal  Das  Holdar 50      o      o 

Mr.  H.  Beveridge,  B.  C.  S 32      o      o 

Baboo  Chandy  Charan  Chowdry 20      o      o 

Mr.  W.  Girling 10      o      o 

Mr.  G.  F.  Bartlett 10      o      o 

Dr.  Mohendra  Lall  Sircar 10      o      o 

Baboo  Narendra  Nath  Sen           .......  10      o      o 

An  Admirer 10      o      o 

Baboo  Krishna  Chunder  Chatterjee 500 

"      Prem  Nath  Ghose 500 

"      B.  M.  Mullick  ....  — -^~    ....  200 

Reed,  through  Mr.  H.  Moore  (from  Howrah)     .         .         .         .  21     14      o 

"           "         Mr.  G.  F.  Bartlett  (Darjeeling)    ....  75      o       o 

"           "        A  Friend 600 

"         Pundit  Umesh  Chundra  Dutt,  from   the  pupils 

of  the  City  College 1580 

Realized  in  small  sum  from  the   pupils  and   friends  of  DalPs 

High  School 107      6      o 

Total,  389     12      o 

Sums  realized  since  the  meeting 42      o      o 


9° 


THE    ANNIVERSARY    OF    THE    DEATH    OF    REV. 
C  H.  A.   DALL. 


MEMORIAL  SERVICE. 

YESTERDAY  was  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of  the  Rev. 
C.  H.  A.  Ball,  and  it  was  observed  in  a  most  becoming  manner 
by  his  friends,  admirers,  and  pupils.  The  four  Mission  Schools 
—  Ball's  High  School,  the  Hindoo  Girls'  School,  the  Rovers' 
School,  and  the  Entally  Middle  Vernacular  School  —  were  closed 
out  of  respect  to  his  memory.  Early  in  the  morning,  quite  a  large 
number  of  students,  about  a  dozen  Hindoo  girls,  ex-pupils  and 
Brahmo  friends,  assembled  at  the  Unitarian  Mission  House  in 
Bhurrumtollah,  with  flowers  and  garlands.  At  7  A.M.  the  pro- 
cession was  formed.  Mrs.  Tomkins  and  Miss  Moffat  with  the 
girls  started  first,  and  the  students  with  their  teachers  and  other 
gentlemen  followed  in  procession  to  the  Lower  Circular  Road 
Burial-ground.  One  of  the  boys  carried  a  trophy  of  flowers  in 
the  shape  of  a  Hindoo  temple.  On  arrival  at  the  grave,  the  girls 
placed  the  wreaths  around  the  railings,  and  the  students  then 
marched  round  the  grave,  throwing  flowers  and  garlands.  After 
a  short  interval,  a  Brahmo  gentleman,  Baboo  Tincowry  Mookerjee, 
offered  up  a  prayer.  Baboo  Bwarka  Nath  Singha  then  stepped 
forward,  and  said :  "  I  will  now  ask  Baboo  Sree  Narain  Mooker- 
jee, one  of  the  most  devoted  of  friends  of  our  dear  departed,  to 
plant  by  the  grave  a  tree,  the  seed  of  which  Mr.  Ball  brought 
from  the  grave  of  his  beloved  Washington  on  his  last  visit  to 
America.  I  also  now  ask  one  and  all  of  you  to  occasionally  visit 
this  spot,  and  bring  with  you  a  few  of  the  flowers  which  Mr. 
Ball  loved  so  much,  and  may  each  visit  here  recall  to  your  minds 
the  good  and  pure  life  of  him  whose  dust  lies  beneath,  and  give 
you  renewed  strength  to  try  to  follow  the  example  and  precepts 
of  '  Ball  the  Good.'  "  The  tree  was  then  planted,  and  the  boys 
sang  a  hymn  composed  especially  for  the  occasion.  Baboo 
Umesh  Chunder  Butt,  the  Minister  of  the  Sadharan  Brahmo 
Somaj,  then  addressed  the  assembly,  dwelling  on  the  catholic 
spirit  of  Mr.  Ball,  his  paternal  care  of  the  students,  his  sympathy 
and  support  of  all  movements  for  the  moral  and  religious  welfare 
of  the  people  of  India,  and  his  strong  advocacy  of  the  cause  of 
temperance,  and  exhorted  one  and  all  to  imitate  him,  and  be  a 


91 

living  memorial  of  Mr.  Dall.  He  closed  his  address  with  prayer, 
the  happy  allusion  during  which  to  the  rain,  that  was  then  falling 
in  torrents  as  tears  from  heaven,  moved  every  heart  deeply,  and 
there  was  scarcely  one  whose  eyes  were  dry.  Some  three  hundred 
of  Mr.  Ball's  pamphlets  were  distributed,  and  the  assembly  quietly 
dispersed.  The  whole  scene  was  most  affecting  and  solemn.  It 
was  perhaps  for  the  first  time  that  Hindoo  girls  have  been  allowed 
by  their  parents  to  tread  a  Christian  burial-ground.  But  it  shows 
the  affection  and  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Dall  was  regarded. 


On  the  same  day,  July  i8th,  1887,  the  notice  of  Mr.  Ball's 
death,  issued  July  18,  1886,  was  reprinted  above  the  words,  "In 
affectionate  remembrance."  Photographs  of  the  beautiful  monu- 
ment were  sent  to  the  family.  The  inscriptions  on  it  were  as 
follows :  — 

Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Revd.  Charles  H.  A.  Dall,  M.A., 

Unitarian  Missionary  in  India  31  years. 

Born  in  Baltimore,  U.  S., 

February  12, 1816. 

Died  in  Calcutta,  July  18,  1886. 

"  Not  gone  from  memory  or  from  love, 

But  to  his  Father's  house  above." 

This  monument  is  erected  by  his  admiring  friends  and  loving  pupils  as  a 
mark  of  the  respect  and  affection  which  his  self-denying,  exemplary  life  and 
earnest  missionary  labors  inspired  in  all  who  knew  him. 

Translation  of  the  Sanscrit  Inscription  : 

Here  lies  Charles  Dall.  Died  Stratan  3  Sakalda  1808. 
Though  that  high-minded  philanthropist  of  benign  appearance,  who  was, 
as  it  were,  an  ocean  of  good  qualities,  who  knew  all  the  principles  of  religion 
and  science,  and  who  was  of  pure  morals  and  a  defender  of  the  true  faith,  lies 
dead  in  this  grave,  yet  he  may  truly  be  said  to  live  in  the  tangible  proofs  of  his 
goodness. 

This  monument  was  the  first  erected  to  a  white  man  by  the 
natives.  Photographs  of  it  were  sent  to  the  Unitarian  Board,  and 
one  of  them  is  now  hanging  in  the  Book  Room  at  25  Beacon 
Street.  In  1900,  the  Rev.  Theodore  Wynkoop,  sent  out  by  the 
"  Bible  Association  "  as  a  Presbyterian  missionary,  repaired  it  at 
his  own  expense.  The  natives  had  kept  the  lot  in  order  for  many 
years. 


92 


A  KHASI  HYMN-BOOK. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  "  Christian  Register  "  :  — 

Under  the  heading  "  A  Japanese  Hymn,"  you  print  in  your 
issue  of  March  31  a  translation  of  our  common  hymn,  "  Come, 
thou  Almighty  King !  "  into  what  purports  to  be  Japanese.  I  am 
much  afraid  that  our  friends  of  the  Sunrise  Empire  will  open 
their  eyes  with  some  incredulity  when  they  read  that  this  is  their 
native  tongue. 

In  fact,  the  hymn  is  Khasi,  a  language  of  Northeastern  India. 
The  translator  is  Mr.  Kissor  Singh,  of  Jowai,  Assam.  The  hymn 
is  one  of  a  collection  of  ninety  in  the  Khasi  language  which  we 
have  recently  published  in  a  small  volume  at  Ann  Arbor,  Mich., 
for  the  use  of  the  Unitarian  church  that  is  springing  up  in  among 
the  Khasis,  a  hill  people  of  Northeastern  India.  J.  T.  S. 
Ann  Arbor. 


(Hymns  used  by  Mr.  Dall's  Schools.) 

SOCIAL  PRAYER. 

1 .  AT  Thy  feet  we  gather, 

Lord,  Thy  children  see  ! 
Children,  father,  mother, 

Children  all,  to  Thee ! 
Life  which  Thou  hast  given 

Bless  afresh  today  1 
Sending,  pure  from  heaven, 

Blessings  on  our  way. 

2.  All  the  years  behind  us 

Shine  Thy  mercies  through  ; 
And  today  they  find  us  ; 

Every  morning  new. 
Of  the  way  before  us 

Not  a  step  we  know ; 
Thou,  who  watchest  o'er  us, 

Guide  us,  as  we  go. 


93 
GOD  LOVES  ME. 

WHO  is  the  One  that  helps  me  so, 

With  never-ceasing  charity  ? 
Where'er  I  sit,  where'er  I  go ; 

Who  can  this  Unseen  Lover  be  ? 

Who  trusts  me  with  the  wealth  of  life ; 

A  heart  to  bind,  —  a  will  to  free, 
Sweet  home,  and  parents,  child  and  wife  ; 

Who  can  this  strange  Confider  be  ? 

Who  can  it  be  that  gives  me  thought, 
To  know  the  evil,  choose  the  right ; 

And  wisely  turn  to  what  I  ought ; 
My  instant  Teacher,  day  and  night  ? 

C.  H.  BALL. 


OUR  BEAUTIFUL  BENGAL. 

THE  morning  light  is  breaking, 

The  darkness  disappears, 
Bengal  is  fast  awaking, 

To  cast  away  her  fears ! 

Fresh  gales  from  every  ocean 

Sweep  off  the  clouds  of  night ; 
And  nations  in  commotion, 

Contend  for  truth  and  right. 

The  morning  gun  is  sounding, 

And  hark,  the  reveille  1 
The  pulse  of  man  is  bounding 

With  life  and  liberty. 

One  Queen,  our  heart's  possessor, 

One  Father  over  all ;  — 
We'll  sing  and  pray,  God  bless  her, 

Our  beautiful  Bengal. 

C.  H.  BALL. 


94 

LIVE  IN  GOD. 

WHEN  I'm  walking,  when  asleep, 
When  I'm  laughing,  when  I  weep, 
In  the  house  and  when  abroad, 
I'm  surrounded  still  with  God. 

"  On  the  mountain,  on  the  plain, 
In  the  sunshine,  in  the  rain, 
In  the  little  birds  that  sing, 
God  is  seen  in  everything." 

Shooting  branches,  spreading  roots, 
Opening  blossoms,  ripening  fruits 
Covering  every  field  with  food, 
God  is  ever  working  good. 

In  the  daylight,  in  the  dark, 
I  will  pray,  and  think,  and  work ; 
Be  His  well-beloved  son, 
While,  in  me,  His  will  is  done. 

C.  H.  BALL. 


LITTLE  MITE. 

GOD  entrusts  to  all 

Talents  few  or  many ; 
None  so  young  and  small 

That  they  have  not  any. 
Though  the  great  and  wise 

Have  a  greater  number, 
Yet  every  one  I  prize, 

And  it  must  not  slumber. 

Every  little  mite, 

Every  little  measure, 
Helps  to  spread  the  light, 

Helps  to  swell  the  treasure. 
Little  drops  of  rain 

Bring  the  springing  flowers ; 
And  I  may  attain 

Much  —  by  little  powers. 


95 


(Part  of  a  Lesson?) 

LILIES  AND  THEIR  LITTLE  ONES;  HOW  THEY  ARE 
BORN  AND  GROW. 

"  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow." —  Words  of  Jesus. 

1.  The  Root.  3.     The  Leaves. 

2.  The  Stem.  4.     The  Seed. 

I.       THE    ROOT. 

God  made  us.  Daily  men  are  born  and  die.  Come  and  see 
how  God  makes  flowers.  See  that  roses  and  lilies  and  all  flowers 
have  each  a  root,  a  stem,  leaves,  and  seed.  When  the  seed  is 
ripe  it  falls  to  the  ground  and  puts  out  a  root.  Like  a  bird's  egg, 
the  seed  is  full  of  life.  In  the  acorn  is  hidden  the  great  life  of  an 
oak  tree.  Who  put  this  life  into  the  acorn,  or  oak-seed,  and  by 
earth,  air,  fire,  and  water  makes  it  a  tree  ?  God. 

God  gave  life  to  you  and  to  me.  Man  sows  the  seed,  God 
grows  the  corn.  But  where  is  God  ?  He  is  here.  He  is  in  you 
and  in  me  and  in  all  that  lives.  He  is,  like  the  air,  everywhere. 
God  in  the  seed  tells  it  how  to  grow.  Would  you  like  to  see  Him 
start  a  seed  into  life  ?  Yes.  Then  put  a  bean,  or  a  pea,  or  any 
other  seed  on  the  ground,  cover  it  with  a  little  earth,  and  watch 
it.  To  see  all  that  it  does,  you  can  bring  it  into  the  house.  Fill 
a  flower-pot  with  earth  from  the  garden.  Wet  sand  will  do  as 
well,  if  you  keep  it  wet. 

All  plants  and  trees  drop  their  seed  on  the  ground.  So  lay 
the  peas,  or  beans,  on  damp  mould.  You  may  put  a  little  earth 
or  moist  sand  over  it,  to  shut  out  the  light.  Don't  be  in  a  hurry 
to  see  it  sprout.  God  never  hurries.  After  a  few  days  look  and 
see  what  He  has  done.  I  have  tried  it ;  and  you  can  try  it. 

God  bids  every  seed  open  to  a  life  four-fold.  It  has  a  life 
downward  of  the  root,  upward  of  the  stem,  outward  of  the 
branches,  and  inward  of  seed.  Keep  in  mind  the  four  steps  or 
stages  of  plant-life,  of  its  root,  stem,  leaves,  and  seed.  God  says 
to  the  root,  "  Go  down ; "  He  says  to  the  stem,  "  Rise  up."  Root, 
go  down  into  darkness;  stem,  come  up  into  light.  Plants  have 
some  choice ;  but  very  little.  If,  when  growing,  they  find  no 
water  on  their  way,  they  will  turn  their  roots  here  or  there  for 


96 

water,  till  they  find  it,  or  die.  If  there  be  water  on  one  side  of  a 
rock  and  not  on  the  other,  the  tree  chooses  to  send  its  roots  down 
over  the  wet  side  only. 

The  root,  as  I  said,  moves  slowly.  Give  it  a  week  before 
you  uncover  it.  Some  grow  quickly  and  some  take  more  time. 
Call  the  little  root  a  "  Radicle"  Call  the  green,  feathery  budding 
of  the  stem  a  "  Plumule."  You  will  see  both  of  these,  if  you 
carefully  uncover  the  seed  you  put  into  the  flower-pot  a  week  ago. 
Now,  if  you  like,  you  may  try  its  fidelity  to  the  two  laws  of  its  life 
—  Down  —  Up.  Put  it  in  the  earth  upside  down.  Cover  it  well. 
In  a  few  days  open  the  earth,  and  what  do  you  see  ?  The 
"  plumule  "  has  not  gone  down  into  the  ground.  No.  It  has 
turned  about  and  come  up.  The  "  radicle  "  which  you  put  up  has 
turned  about  and  gone  down. 

May  I  upset  the  little  thing  once  more  ?  May  I  put  it  heels 
over  head  again  ?  Yes,  if  you  like.  Only  remember  that  a  little 
bruising  or  rough  handling  will  kill  the  baby.  With  care  you 
may  do  this  topsy-turvy  work  many  times.  It  will  "  face  about  " 
as  before.  Round,  and  round,  and  round  will  the  two  keep  turn- 
ing, as  often  as  you  tempt  them  to  go  the  wrong  way.  They  will 
do  right,  or  die.  Think  of  this !  So  much  for  the  root.  Now 
for  the  stem. 


97 


NOTE. 

I  HAVE  at  last  succeeded  in  communicating  with  the  Rev.  I.  T. 
Sunderland.  In  a  recent  letter  he  says :  "  I  am  glad  you  are  reprint- 
"  ing  your  husband's  memoir.  My  travel  in  India  convinced  me  that 
"  the  extent  and  value  of  his  work  and  personal  influence  have  never 
"  been  properly  understood  in  this  country.  I  shall  be  eager  to  get  a 
"  copy  of  your  reprint  and  '  Appendix  '  as  soon  as  issued." 

It  is  not  only  unjust  to  Mr.  Sunderland  but  to  Mr.  Dall,  to  issue 
this  "Memorial"  without  some  allusion  to  Mr.  Sunderland's  visit  to 
India.  It  took  place  only  three  or  four  years  after  Mr.  Ball's  death, 
and  grew  out  of  his  personal  interest  in  the  country,  and  his  expenses, 
so  far  as  is  known,  were  met  by  his  private  purse.  He  was,  at  the 
time,  the  minister  of  the  Unitarian  church  at  Ann  Arbor.  I  believe 
that  he  traveled  to  every  hill-town  where  he  could  hear  of  Unitarians ; 
but  the  printed  accounts  speak  only  of  the  Khasi  and  Jaintia  hills. 
These  constitute  a  district  of  Assam,  350  miles  to  the  northeast  of 
Calcutta ;  Assam  having  become  recently  known  to  Europeans  on 
account  of  its  tea  gardens.  The  first  Christian  work  was  done  in  this 
neighborhood  by  Calvinistic  Methodists  from  Wales,  about  the  year 
1826.  These  people  did  admirable  work.  They  established  schools 
and  churches,  and  formed  an  alphabet  for  the  Khasis,  their  language 
having  never  been  reduced  to  writing.  Education  spread  rapidly 
among  them  for  this  reason.  About  six  years  before  Mr.  Ball's  death 
Hagom  Kissor  Singh  wrote  to  him.  I  do  not  know  that  Mr.  Ball  was 
ever  able  to  go  to  Assam,  but  he  sent  books  to  the  station  and  corre- 
sponded with  Singh,  and  this  was  continued  by  Mrs.  Tomkins  until  the 
Calcutta  Mission  was  closed.  Through  Mr.  Ball,  Singh  obtained 
copies  of  the  Unitarian,  published,  I  believe,  at  Ann  Arbor;  and  his 
writing  to  Mr.  Sunderland  led  to  the  printing  of  Khasi  tracts  and  hymn 
books  on  an  American  press.  Shillong  is  the  capital  of  Assam.  Here 
travel  by  carriage  ends,  but  four  of  the  native  preachers,  a  group  of 
school  children,  and  many  Bramos  met  Mr.  Sunderland.  His  next 
point  was  Jowai,  thirty-three  miles  away,  a  journey  taken  on  ponies, 
the  nights  being  spent  in  government  bungalows.  Imagine  his  amaze- 
ment when  on  the  hillside  he  was  met  by  a  group  of  thirty  or  more 
children,  carrying  a  banner,  and  singing  a  song  of  welcome  written  for 
the  occasion,  singing  Unitarian  hymns  to  English  and  American  tunes ! 

The  natives  of  Jowai  had  just  built  a  church  capable  of  holding 
200  persons.  Here  Mr.  Sunderland  held  four  services.  He  was  the 


98 

first  white  man  the  people  had  ever  seen.  Unitarian  groups  were  found 
in  eight  villages,  five  of  which  had  already  built  houses  of  worship. 
A  marvellous  result  for  the  few  years  Singh  has  been  at  work.  The 
day  before  Mr.  Sunderland  left  India,  David  Edwards,  of  Raliang,  was 
ordained  to  the  Unitarian  ministry.  The  teachers  of  this  people  so  far 
had  been  laymen.  Mr.  Edwards  had  been  a  Methodist  deacon,  and 
had  studied  for  its  ministry,  but  became  liberal  in  his  views  and  joined 
Singh's  congregation.  A  council  was  called  in  Jowai.  Representa- 
tives appeared  from  three  churches  and  two  villages.  Mr.  Sunderland 
represented  the  British  and  Foreign  Association.  He  was  chosen 
Moderator  and  Mr.  Singh  appointed  Clerk.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
American  Unitarian  Association  will  find  it  best  to  assist  those  moun- 
tain churches  from  the  Hay  ward  Fund. 

CAROLINE  H.  BALL. 

AugUSt  7,  IQO2. 


20131 


;  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY    A    LITV 


